Sitaras from the old city of Sana’a, abstract painting, and collages:

a dialogue of materials and techniques brought together by painter Amin Nasher

As an engineer who graduated from Universities in Russia and the United States, Amin Nasher has developed a parallel life as a painter that brought him to where he is today as one of the most recognized artists in Yemen. Nasher was a founding member of several art groups created in Sana’a during the late eighties and nineties, thus being among the first to open galleries and to provoke an artistic movement in the country. He has exhibited his work in France and Bangladesh, and was awarded first prize at the First National Art Exhibition in Sana’a in 1996. Some of Nasher’s pieces can be enjoyed in the Bab al-Yemen gallery.

Yemen Observer (YO): -How did your interest in art begin, especially considering that you graduated from engineering?
Amin Nasher (AN): -I studied civil engineering in Russia, and for those studies you have to take classes related to drawing. it was compulsory to makedrawings and practice with nature, flowers, and models. It was part of my studies and when I finished my studies in Russia I had to do a practical subject at the architecture department, so a lot of drawings for that as well. I did drawings of buildings and I chose my project in Yemen. When I came here to Sana’a, I focused on the Police College as a building, and I drew all the architectural drawings for my project based on this building. This helped me to start practicing art, and when I graduated from Russia in 1978 I started to draw and practice painting. In the beginning, I met very nice friends who helped me a lot, we had a group together in which I could practice. This group was Fuad al-Futaih, Mazher Nizar, and Yassim Ghaleb. They were doing activities together and had contacts with foreigners in Yemen interested in art so we did group exhibitions, which no longer exist. We did all this in ‘Gallery No. 1,’ which was on Mujahid Street a long time ago, and it belonged to Fuad al-Futaih. That was the beginning.

YO: -How many galleries were there in Yemen at that time?
AN: -I guess there was ‘Gallery No. 1,’ and together with my brother we also opened a gallery called ‘Colors,’ which didn’t last for a long time. I guess only two or three galleries existed at that time. We are talking about the eighties in Sana’a and in the rest ofYemen because there were no more galleries. Maybe there were also some galleries in Aden. Yemen was separated at that time so we had two Yemens and it was hard to exhibit art in either country or to make artists come from the north to the south. There was communication but the political situation was not the right one, and it was especially difficult for the people from Aden to come to Sana’a. Artists from the North and South would rather meet in other countries when they were invited to exhibitions outside the two Yemens.

YO: -Was there ever any Russian influence present in your work?
AN: -No, nothing at all.

YO: -Then what are your sources of inspiration?
AN: -At the beginning I did a lot of studies on the old city of Sana’a, where I took many photographs and tried to see how people were living in the old city. This is when I started to think about using the sitara in my work (the colored piece of cloth women wear over their clothes in the old city of Sana’a). I think I was influenced by people and by women from the old city, and up to today my work is involved with the situation of Yemeni women, which I guess the sitara is part of. Of course, women in Yemen don’t have their rights as it happens everywhere else in the world, given that women still don’t have the same rights than men. My work is involved with this subject and I try to show a bright side of this situation.

YO: -How would you define your style?
AN: -Now, most of my work is abstract. At the beginning I started with realism and classical works, but at this moment I am very far away from that. My work is going towards a more abstract vision.

YO: -What is common to your abstract work, your more realistic pieces, and even your graphics is that we always see the sitara. How do you see it?
AN: -Well, in graphics I also tried to do collages using the sitara because it is very difficult to draw them, so I use them in collages, especially in my acrylic works. I think my graphic work is a little bit far out for the sitara subject.

YO: -But we still see women in all these works…
AN: -The women subject is there but I am trying to do it by means of drawing and not through collages.

YO: -You have seen plastic arts in Yemen developed since almost the very beginning. How would you explain the evolution of art in the country over these years?
AN: -The problem in Yemen is that artists don’t receive support from the government and I think that the main thing for artists is to practice, to attend exhibitions, to meet other artists- Arab and foreign, and compare what they are doing with what happens in the rest of the world. All this hasn’t existed in Yemen since the very beginning and maybe those times were even better than now. Twelve or fourteen years ago there were more activities and exhibitions. Artists had group exhibitions maybe twice a year and solo exhibitions once a year. At that time mainly foreigners were buying art because Yemenis are not interested in art. The artists need an income, otherwise they get disappointed that no one buys their work. They need to live, and at that time, fourteen years ago, a lot of foreigners and tourists attended exhibitions, but now it is not like that. For instance, a couple of weeks ago for the celebration of the 22 of May there was an exhibition in the House of Culture and although the paintings were not that expensive, not a single artist sold a piece, in general and not only Yemenis. That’s what I heard, I don’t know if later someone bought something. There is no market for art in Yemen. I don’t think this is related to the income of Yemeni people, I think they are not interested in buying artwork and this has always been true in Yemen. In the best period for art, companies were buying pieces but they were sort of forced to help the artists. They were not buying out of interest. The most important thing for Yemeni artists in order to continue working is to attend exhibitions and participate in exhibitions abroad. This is important to improve their work.

YO: -What happened? Why was there a time where art was really developing and then we passed into this current period of stagnation?
AN: -The main reason I can think of is that artists work to collect their pieces at their homes; there are no exhibitions to show their work and there are no critics invited to give their critiques in order to make things evolve. People go to exhibitions and say nice things about all the work they see, but the artist is not getting any critique. Critiques would also help the artist- critiques from professionals with knowledge on art, not everyone can critique art. I think in Yemen we had one or two art critics.

YO: -Is there something we can call an artistic movement in Yemen? Is there a Yemeni style of art?
AN: -I think there is such a thing. Perhaps not all the artists portray this but many like Hashem Ali do. He has developed his own style. He is a self-taught artist who didn’t attend university and who developed his own style by doing very interesting paintings that I really like. Also Fuad al Futaih and Abdul Jabbar Na’uman are specific examples of a special style. I think the rest of the artists haven’t developed a style, a single direction, but what we see now is promising and we are not that far from the rest of the world. There is a movement here, but unfortunately it needs more support. Imagine in Yemen, in Sana’a, there are no art schools because there is a policy against opening art schools. We only have art schools  in Aden and Hodeidah. There are no art galleries were you can decently exhibit your work and no art museums, these are big problems. When we do exhibitions, we don’t have good places to exhibit. Everything is small and compact. I think this is not healthy. At the least, the government should build a place to exhibit art permanently.

YO: -That is on the side of the government, but what do you think artists could and should do to change this situation?
AN: -I dont think artists can do anything to change the situation. They have to practice their work, but unless they are helped by the government, how will they do it? At the least the government should purchase their work to encourage them. Unless something happens, artists will die and then their pieces will be sold. For Yemenis and for the financial situation here, artists can’t survive unless they have another job on the side.

YO: -That’s your case although you are one of the very well known names among Yemeni artists…
AN: -Yes, that is my case. I have my own business and I paint on the side. I work doing swimming pools so I can continue painting. I try, but before, during the time we had the project of al-Halaqa, an art group and art publication we used to have, we made exhibitions and traveled, but now there aren’t such activities in Sana’a or in Yemen at all. Sometimes the Ministry of Culture sends some artists to exhibitions, but this is also not common and I don’t see artists attending exhibitions abroad.

YO: -What are you planning on doing next? What are your future projects?
AN: -I will continue what I am doing now: graphics and acrylics on canvas. I am focusing on both of them. I hope to have a solo exhibition if there are opportunities to do so, in Sana’a. If not I will do it somewhere abroad. As I said, I am a self-taught artist, so I explore all these techniques alone.

* The picture of Amin Nasher and his graphic works were taken by photograph Jean-Baptiste Lopez. www.fotozean.com

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