Where: The Palace Hotel, Adliyah.

When: Thursday, April 3rd 2008 - Saturday, April 5th 2008.

This year, those looking for somewhere to chill after the high-octane F1 action at the BIC have an alternative to a straightforward disco or party: Live Art ’08. Brought to you by The Palace Bahrain Hotel and Elham Arts Group, this is an exciting first for Bahrain, a hyper-cool, three-day fusion of the arts served up poolside on the 3rd, 4th and 5th April, from 8pm till late.

During this period, the boutique hotel’s foyer will be transformed by paintings and sculptures created by talented emerging artists, while the pool area, kitted out with beanbags and sofas, will come alive with art - an opportunity to settle in with a drink and enjoy live music, short movies, photography, ‘graffiti’ and music spun by DJs. Tickets cost BD 5 per night, which includes festival access and a barbecue.

The Palace Bahrain Hotel is situated at 67 Palace Street (opposite DHL) in Adliya. For more information, call Kamath on 391 50065 or 17725000.

Festival Programme

Where: Casa Blu, Adliya

When: Tuesday, March 25th 2008, from 7.00pm to 9.00pm

Elham will host the first open mike night at Casa Blu in Adliya on Tuesday, 25th March at 7 pm! Casa Blu is located close to the Al Jazera Grocery and is renowned for it’s artistic ambiance.

For all of you who have been thinking of sharing your music or prose, this will be your month to shine.

A microphone and piano will be available.

An Internationally renowned calligrapher, an award-winning author and a young and upcoming artist will showcase their work at the 11th Elham Monthly Gathering this month. Mahmood Al Mulla is a founder member of the Bahrain Fine Arts Association and is considered one of the country’s finest calligraphers combining Arabic calligraphy with fine art. He has participated in many exhibitions locally, regionally and internationally including France, UK, Egypt and Lebanon. He also received several awards for his work. He will showcase some of his latest works and talk about his experience as a calligrapher and using calligraphy as an artistic outlet.

He will be joined by Ali Al Saeed, the author of the novel QuioxtiQ (2004) and the collection of short stories Moments (2006), both of which were national best-sellers. Ali worked as a journalist for two newspapers between 1998 and 2004. He currently contributes to several magazines including Ohlala! Arabia and has a weekly column in the Gulf Daily News. Ali’s work was published in numerous journals, magazines, anthologies and websites. He is an avid photographer and an aspiring filmmaker. Ali is the recipient of the Bahrain Outstanding Book of the Year Award and a founder member of Elham.

Ali, who has been working on two new novels and expects to publish his new book sometime later this year, will present a new piece for the first time to the public.

And the evening will also feature an exciting new Bahraini artist. Mariam Hadji, born in Bahrain in 1985, is currently based in Melbourne Australia She first discovered my talent at the age of 8 and ever since she has been practicing. After finishing school in Bahrain, she traveled to study in Dundee Scotland for two years and then transferred to Melbourne, Australia to continue her degree in Fine art in 2003 and has since been very active in the Melbourne art scene.

Mariam will conduct a presentation of her work and delve into her fascinating and original artistic techniques, theories and conceptualizations. Mariam is also featured in this issue of Ohlala.

Elham: The Creative Arts Group, provides a monthly forum for artistically minded people, and gives both expat and Bahraini artists traversing the creative spectrum a platform to showcase their work. In addition to monthly sessions at galleries and cafés, there are satellite events such as jamming evenings, photographers’ days out and various workshops.

The event will be held on Wednesday, February 27th from 7pm. A venue will be announced soon. For more information email: elhambahrain@yahoo.com or call Melissa on 39239308.