Saeed Attari
Founder, iBird
Based in Bahrain, Saeed Attari is largely a self-taught artist, best known for his immersive doodle artwork that always narrates a story or an experience. Founder of iBird, a simple sketch paired with real objects and photographed very uniquely, the concept offers an outlet to showcase the fun-loving, adventure-seeking hand-drawn character and the potential in the simplest of art forms and the distinguished Arab element to creativity.
Captivated by people, absorbed by artistic features and simple figures, artist Saeed Attari holds a Masters degree in Banking and Finance from the Sheffield Hallam University in London. The father of three is a full-time investment banker in Bahrain. With a keen interest in art from a very young age, the artist credits his love for art to his mother, an art enthusiast, who instilled a love for aesthetics, paintings, ethics and spiritual values from a very young age.
iBird, that was featured in 2015 by Instagram, the leading photo and video social media platform, was the result of Attari's spare time juggling his duties as a father and his finance-focused job. The artist, who longed to own a pet parrot, manoeuvres doodle to creatively capture a nostalgic memory or a moment, making a mark with his unique perception of objects and situations. Doodling which is known as an expression of the inner self and the thought process of a subconscious mind comes to the artist as a natural ability, often self-expression, and more than often inspiration from his three children - Mira, Maya and Omar. The character, iBird, also translates a mix of his personality and his favourite everyday items bringing in a strong physical presence.
Saeed, a Jordanian national born in the UAE, is an advocate of the Arab art scene and believes that modern and contemporary art from the Arab region has come a long way. He envisions for art to become an outlet to express the unidentified beauty of Arab culture and give the world a bigger reason to explore a profound aspect of the art scene in the Arabian Peninsula. The artist believes that exposure to the culture, it's art, and youth empowerment, is a crucial element to understand and inspire positive changes needed in the region.
By using expressive sketches and a minimal color palette Attari achieves a high level of realism while retaining a sensitive eye for the variation within the environments that he is creating. iBird is all about happiness, peace, love and joy. It is a fun-loving, outdoor character which enjoys traveling. The artist is working to grow the iBird concept by working on a gaming app, and further by launching a children's storybook (ibird).
Mission CULTURE, CREATIVITY & INNOVATION
From the sciences and academia to the arts, youth are breaking boundaries and redefining conventional perceptions towards culture and identity on their quest to make a difference in the world. With culture, creativity, and innovation taking centre stage. Youth should be guided in every possible way in achieving what may seem impossible, whether it is through easier access to the arts and creative industries, or through the development of programs targeting specific interests and recognizing levels of excellence in their abilities.
Exposure is a crucial element in promoting youth participation in the arts as it can provide an opportunity to explore perspectives, to use a
positive outlet for expression, and through meaningful engagement with an artist or cultural event, discover the traditions of other communities and learn to speak a universally shared language of creative interpretation.
We should invest in youth empowerment, the true essence of empowerment is being able to express emotions, openness, and understanding in a way that positively contributes to the community. I believe culture is the tool to achieve this. Culture is a broad and multidisciplinary arena that enables everyone to reflect on the past and carry these values to the future, in which new generations are able to identify and relate with.
Culture communicates individual and collective stories while creating cultural awareness, which can provide transformative learning experiences that cultivate self-confidence and expand people’s consciousness of their surrounding environment, sparking new ideas and tangible outcomes.
The new youth generation is more eager to inspire positive change than ever before. Youth represent the country's vision for progress and it is our responsibility as cultural leaders to open as many doors as possible to them. I am confident that our youth, who will carry their identity and values forward with outstanding capabilities, will create inspiring contributions in the story of their nation’s success.
Vision
The Arab art scene has gone long unnoticed by the Western world. hardly anyone mentioned modern and contemporary art from the Arab region. Negative political events were foregrounded and the Arab world was more readily associated with terrorism and religious fanaticism than with art and culture.
With the advent of social media, changing socio-economic situations and modernization, the art scene has evolved and changed dramatically all over the Arabian Peninsula in the past few years. A large number of bold, young artists have emerged confidently all over the region.
Their art reflects modern ideas, themes and mediums. Artists now provoke discussions and debates through their work. Like any other art scene in the western world, gender issues, identity crisis, freedom, and space are all now part of the modern Arab art scene.
Despite the repeated emphasis on the importance of the art market’s role in the growing interest in Arab art, one should not ignore the fact that art has more than material value. Art with its universal appeal gives us the possibility to understand more about ourselves and explore a deeper sense of being. Art also allows us to learn more about other cultures. It conveys aesthetic, ethic and spiritual values. Art has never kept to a single country or nation, and throughout the centuries, art has always surpassed boundaries.
Instagram Feeds
iBird art been featured by Instagram in 2015.
