John Whittingdale, MP OBE “The launch of Art Select marks an exciting development for art investment in the UK and it is a pleasure to be here at the start of this venture. I look forward to watching this initiative as it expands into the UK market, bringing Middle Eastern and South Asian art to London’s collectors and enthusiasts.” “Showcasing art influenced by a variety of cultures and origins allows initiatives, such as Art Select UK, to play an instrumental role in establishing cultural alliances with organisations and entities across the globe, through the shared appreciation of contemporary art.

Arts and culture is crucial in shaping the tone and nature of intercultural relations. It o!ers a medium through which cultural heritage and identity can be experienced and interpreted and provides a neutral platform from which artists and audiences can come together.

It is the innate ability of arts and culture to unite people by representing the unique stories of the artists and regions from which they originate. By bringing some of the most vibrant, energetic and innovative South Asian and Middle Eastern art to the UK, Art Select helps to develop a greater understanding of the values, identity and history of our fellow art lovers from around the world.

It is my hope that the tradition of cultural exchange will continue in the hope that art appreciators and collectors in the UK may be inspired and emboldened to bring international art into their homes. In a world that is becoming increasingly connected, strengthening cultural ties is of the utmost importance.” Art Select is a unique initiative launched on the strength of a private passion of founder and owner Kaneka Subberwal which today is a strong and successful international business format. Hosting high caliber exhibitions together with providing a platform for emerging artists has given Art Select a definite edge in making art more accessible, thereby strengthening its association with clients from various cities including Dubai, Muscat, London and Bahrain. The art exhibited ranges from the masters to emerging talent from India, Pakistan and the Middle East. It is the endeavor of Art Select team to position itself as a valuable resource for a substantial range of quality art. And finally to advise, consult and assist clients in understanding art as an investment and the significance of building private and corporate collections.

Kaneka Subberwal Aadil Abedi Amiya Bhattacharya F N Souza Gourav Bhattachayra Ismail Gulgee Jamal Abdul Rahim Mahendra Bhagat Manu Parekh Mattar Bin Lahej Pupinder Singh Ghatora Mazarine Memon Managing Director - Art Select UK “investment in art beyond boundaries, is a vision we hope to capture “ MF Husain It is a pleasure to work alongside Art Select Bahrain to launch Art Select in the UK. Art has always been a true passion of mine and, having built a successful international N. Warour business, I felt that the time had come to follow my interests and launch Art Select UK. Art Select is an initiative to take art across borders, bringing artists of the highest Radhika Hamlai calibre together to interact with art lovers and collectors from around the world. The launch of Art Select in London represents our arrival into the art capital of the world Suchi Chidambaram and it is an honour to present this inaugural exhibition and the launch of Art Select in Tauseef Khan the UK. Tina Chandroji Uzma Dadabhai Wahab Ja!er

MF Husain - India The name Maqbool Fida Husain has become almost synonymous with , and deservedly so, for no single artist has popularised Indian art, within the country or internationally, as Husain has done. His endless quest for his cultural roots and a fearlessly open-minded willingness to absorb diverse influences has made M. F. Husain one of the most recognizable figures of contemporary Indian art. Born in 1915 in Pandharpur, Maharashtra, a self-taught artist he came to in 1937, determined to become a painter.He began his career by painting billboards for feature films and making furniture designs and toys, to earn a living. In 1948, he was invited by F.N. Souza to join the Progressive Artist’s Group, a group formed to explore a new idiom for Indian art. Sometimes a poet, sometimes an installation artist, and a film maker, Husain is one contemporary artist who has not allowed the brush and the canvas to imprison him.

Shown in Sao Paolo Biennales 1959 and 1971 (invitee together with Picasso); India, Myth and Reality, Oxford, 1982; Modern Indian Painting, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C., 1982; Six Indian Painters, Tate Gallery, London, 1982; Contemporary Indian Art, Festival of India, Royal Academy of Art, London, 1982; and Coups de Coeur, Geneva, 1987. Retrospectives: Mumbai, 1969; , 1973; Delhi, 1978. Rajva Sabha member, 1986. Awards (selected): Padma Shri; Padma Bhushan -1989; Lalit Kala Ratna - 2004; and honorary doctorates.

Title: Mother Teresa Title: Horses Size: 21” x 15” Size: 21” x 15” Medium: Water color on paper Medium: Water color on paper Aadil Abedi - India Aadil Abedi is an acclaimed London-based artist and designer. Contemporary Arabic and Indian influences, alongside rich colours and Swarovski crystals, characterize his work. Inspired by Arabic calligraphy, damask prints, and abstract designs, he creates original artwork with a contemporary e!ect, giving an ancient tradition a modern twist.

Aadil’s art is not confined to any particular religion, time, place, or medium. He merges his Indian heritage and ancestral Arabic roots to create new forms of art. Using acrylics on canvas, he incorporates textures, crystals and fabrics to make his paintings truly unique.

Each piece is handmade and customised to a client’s specification. Clients receive one- on-one consultation and personalised service to cater to their art needs. Aadil often bases his work on clients’ interiors, creating distinctive and rare pieces that have a lasting impact.

Aadil has been commissioned by well-known personalities such as and Arjun Rampal to design customised pieces for their homes. His work has been showcased in Dubai, London, New York, Sydney, and Mumbai. Magazines such as Emel, You & I, WKND (Khaleej Times) have covered Aadil’s journey from his studio in London to international acclaim.

Title: Sufi inspired ‘Hub’ - ‘Love’ (with Rumi Poetry) Size: 40” x 40” Medium: Acrylic on canvas with Swarovski crystals Amiya Bhattacharya - India “….and my images - the yearning hand, the half moon, the banana leaves, most of all the women – are all part of a simple past, and the dreams of a magical childhood.”

Born in 1949, Amiya Bhattacharya studied at the Indian College of Arts in Kolkata, and thereafter joined the Ananda Bazar Patrika Group of Publication, where today he is the Senior Art Director and also designs for Penguin India. Amiya’s statement is found in social reality. He is an artist of rare emotion and sensitivity. And his statements focus on social realities, often powerful and evocative of the truth as he perceives it. Since his natural di"dence prevents him from voicing his innermost thoughts and feelings, he turns, like so many socially reticent people into being profoundly articulate in his art. For Amiya, it is his form of eloquence.

Amiya has participated in exhibitions at Taj Art Gallery and Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai; Hong Kong Visual Art Centre; Indian Art Unbound I in London (2004); Indian Art Unbound II Grand Hyatt Dubai(2005); Indian Art Unbound Revisited, 2005; Euphonic Palettes, Mumbai (2006); Euphonic Palettes Dubai (2006); Uninterrupted Journeys-Dubai (2007) Across Boundaries-A Collage, Dubai, Muscat & London (2008)

Title: Untitled Size: 36” x 48” Medium: Mix media on canvas FN Souza - India Francis Newton Souza (April 12, 1924 - March 28, 2002), commonly referred to as F. N. Souza, was an Indian artist. He was a founding member of the Progressive Artists Group of Bombay, and was the first post-independence Indian artist to achieve high recognition in the West.

After this he founded the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group to encourage Indian artists to participate in the international avant-garde. However, in 1949, after India became independent, he left the country for London. In early 1950s he started getting recognition for his works at Gallery One, North London. The Institute of Contemporary Arts included work of his in a 1954 exhibition, and other shows followed. His literary talents also helped his career after the publication of the autobiographical work Nirvana of a Maggot in Encounter, a journal then edited by Stephen Spender. His book Words and Lines published 1959 cemented his literary reputation.

Souza’s career developed steadily, and he participated in several shows, receiving positive reviews from John Berger. His style was, as Berger pointed out, deliberately eclectic: essentially Expressionist in character, but also drawing on the post-war Art Brut movement and elements of British Neo-romanticism. His work was often highly erotic. According to art historian Yashodhara Dalmia,

After 1967 he settled in New York, but returned to India shortly before his death, Souza was buried in Sewri cemetery in Mumbai, in a quiet funeral on March 30, 2002.

Title: Mother and child Size: 8.26” x 11.6” Medium: Ink on paper Gourav Bhattachayra - India Born 7th January 1983, Kolkata, West Bengal. Gaurav has a bachelor of Visual Arts(B.V.A), First Class First is a Gold Medalist, Govt. College of Art & Craft, Kolkata, 2008

Selected Exhibitions Annual Exhibitions Of Govt College Of Art & Craft, 2005 -2008 Rising Stars, BMW studio, Delhi, 2009 First Impressions,Indian embassy, Muscat (Oman) 2009 Annual Exhibition, Birla Academy, Kolkata 2010 Khushi, Spring Art Loot, New Delhi 2010 Bengal Odyssey by Brown Sahib and Nitanjali Art Gallery, New Delhi 2010 Creative Canvases by Art Select & The Leorand Hotel, London 2010 At The Eye Level by Art Select, Oman 2010 A Group Exhibition at The Courtyard in Hamala , Art Select 2010

Awards Certificate of Merit for Photography, Govt. College of Art & Craft, Kolkata 2005 Award for Overall Performance in Graphic Design, Govt. College of Art & Craft, Kolkata 2006 & 2007

Title: Thrown Away Size: 46” x 46” Medium: Mix media on canvas Ismail Gulgee - Pakistan Gulgee was born on 25 October 1926 at Karimpura locality in Peshawar, Pakistan. Initially, he went to Aligarh University to study civil engineering before heading o! to US for continuing his higher education. Gulgee started to paint while acquiring his training as an engineer in the United States at Columbia University and then Harvard. His first exhibition was in 1950.

Gulgee was a gifted and consummately skilled naturalistic portrait painter who had enjoyed (according to Partha Mitter) “lavish state support” and plenty of elite commissions in this capacity. He was perhaps best known worldwide for his abstract work, which was inspired by Islamic calligraphy and was also influenced by the “action painting” movement of the 1950s and 1960s (Mitter notes that Elaine Hamilton was a strong influence in this direction). This is perhaps a natural enough stylistic combination, since in both Islamic calligraphy and action painting a high value is placed on the unity and energy of gestural flow. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art “Gulgee’s calligraphy paintings are abstract and gestural interpretations of Arabic and Urdu letters. His sweeping layers of paint explore the formal qualities of oil paint while they make references to Islamic design elements.”

Beginning in the 1960s (if not earlier), Gulgee also created sculptures, including bronze pieces that were (like so many of his paintings) calligraphic in form and inspiration, and sometimes specifically based on verses from the Quran. There have been many requests for his paintings internationally, from the Saudi royal family to the Islamabad presidency and many of his works are placed in the “Faisal Mosque” in Islamabad. Guljee received many awards, including in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Japan and France.

His paintings were bright and full of color, but the paint was put on with great sensitivity, and paintings vibrate with intense feeling. Areas sing with luminous, thin color; thick blobs of paint pulsate with fiberglass tears, the brush swirls strong and free. The total e!ect used to be very free, yet considered and well thought out. They work enormously Title: Untitled well, because it was all orchestrated with great care and concentration. Size: 18” x 30” Medium: Acrylic on canvas Jamal Abdul Rahim - Bahrain He is one of Bahrain’s most established and highly regarded contemporary artists, exhibiting his work in Europe and the Middle East. The award-winning artist builds his art from the movement of society deeply rooted in rich Arab civilization, its mythology, religion and language.

He believes that artists can pick their inspiration from everywhere and from the people around them. Although he is known as a printmaker and painter, he has become an avid sculpting fan who believes that “stone is already beautiful and by sculpting it, I am inspired, withdrawing that beauty into a form”. According to him, working on stone fills the soul with a special kind of pleasure that cannot be explained, as art is a spiritual exercise which cannot be ignored.

đŏ Born 1965, Muharraq, Kingdom of Bahrain. đŏ 15 individual exhibitions in Bahrain & 24 Arab and international exhibitions. đŏ 26 joint exhibitions including Biennales & Triennials. đŏ 13 National & international prizes. đŏ 30 handmade books & artistic collections đŏ Guest of honor at the 4th International Triennial of Graphic Art, Egypt in 2003. đŏ Guest of honor in the 2nd Biennial of Art Book, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt in 2006. đŏ Jury member in the 26th Mini Print International of Cadaqués, Spain in 2006. đŏ Certificate of Appreciation in the Annual National Art Exhibition, Bahrain in 2007. đŏ In 2007, His book “Rasa’el Qasab” (Cane Messages) was added to the British Museum’s collection and was exhibited in “Word into Art – Artists of the Modern Middle East” at DIFC, Dubai. đŏ In 2010 the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore has purchased one of his prints “Al Qalam” for its permanent collection.

Title: Untitled Size: 25” x 43” Medium: Lithography Mahendra Bhagat - India The works of Mahendra Bhagat owe their distinctness to an upbringing rooted in a very western culture within Mumbai and Pune. Yet, every bit of this western symbolism is bound by a common, universal inquiry.

Be it the temptations of Picasso in the installation with apples, the burden of the environmental damage in the stunning, emotive faces of the eco-saviours executed on paper or the large diptychs called the Voices of the Past, the artist’s message is clear: each of us must choose between the pleasures of the senses, our oneness with the world around us and spirituality. He works in several mediums, moving from paintings and sculptures to installations and video art with equal ease. He believes that di!erent subjects need di!erent mediums and more importantly, today’s art needs a universal language that people across the globe can relate to.

Mahendra graduated in art from Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai in 1989. Starting his career as a graphic designer, he went on to become Vice President and Creative Director at JWT and SSCB Lintas. He has received several international awards for Visual Arts at AME, New York, Mobius, Chicago, D&D Showcase; Clio, Dante and at the London Festival and Cannes. He now is a full time painter and has since exhibited in several galleries in Amsterdam, Dubai and Mumbai. He exhibits regularly at the Point of View Gallery and Gallery Beyond in Mumbai. He participated in the International Art Summit, New Delhi in 2010. His works can be found in private collections in Washington DC, New York, Dubai, Delhi and Mumbai.

Title: Picasso head Size: 36” x 30” Weight: 12 - 15 kgs Medium: Unbreakable fiberglass, handpainted with acrylic colours. Manu Parekh - India Born in 1939 in , Manu Parekh completed a Diploma in Drawing and Painting from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, in 1962. Parekh’s early work explored the relationships between man and nature, as according to him, this was an energetic link that had to be celebrated. The artist also points out that, since then, contradictions have formed the basis of his artistic practice, no matter the subject or genre of his works.

Vivid colours and prominent lines are an integral part of Parekh’s work and each exudes the energy that he attempts to capture. Parekh admits to being very strongly influenced by his surroundings. His stay in the city of Kolkata, for instance, drew him towards Santiniketan and the old masters of Indian art, Ram Kinkar Baij and . His appreciation of their work, more at a perceptual level than stylistic one, urged him to delve deeper into the thoughts that inform his own ouevre.

Parekh held his first solo exhibition of graphics and paintings in in 1968, and has not looked back since. His most recent solo shows have included ‘Banaras – Eternity Watches Time’ presented by Sa!ronart and Berkeley Square Gallery, London, at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2007; ‘Banaras’ at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, in 2004; ‘Portraits of Flower and Landscapes of River’ at Jehangir Art Gallery and Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 2003; ‘Ritual Oblations’ at Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore, and Sakshi Gallery and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 1999; and ‘Small Drawings’ at Sophia Duchesne Art Gallery, Mumbai, in 1991. Parekh has also had solo shows at BosePacia Modern in New York and at ARKS Gallery in London.

Parekh was awarded the President of India’s Silver Plaque and the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society Award, New Delhi, in 1972; the National Award from the , New Delhi, in 1982; and the Padma Shree from the Government of India in 1992.

The artist lives and works in New Delhi. Title: Benares Size: 36” x 24” Medium: Acrylic on canvas Mattar bin Lahej - U.A.E “I use the concept of movement in all my art - as an artist I insist on leaving my fingerprint on society.”

Considered among the second generation of emirati artists, Mattar bin Lahej (b.1968) is a self-taught painter, sculptor and photographer. Movement is an important key to his art - from his large-scale oil and acrylic paintings with his unique signature brush strokes, to his equally powerful sculptures, that capture split-second movement, especially of horses. Mattar has also successfully explored traditional styles of painting, mixing deep, warm and vivid colours with calligraphy. As an artist he is well aware of his role in society, and he is increasingly concerned with linking his work to social events. Title: Image and body Size: 70” x 70” Medium: Acrylic on canvas Mattar bin Lahej has particiated in exhibitions in UAE, USA, France, Germany, Morocco, Kuwait and Turkey and his work is in collections throughout the region and has been auctioned by Bonhams. As the owner of Marsam Mattar art center, he has supervised art workshops and exhibitions, throughtout the UAE.

Title: Speed 6 Size: 4.7” x 9.8”x 15.7” Medium: Stainless steel Mazarine Memon - Canada A natural artist, born in Bombay to an eccentric, fun loving, Zoroastrian family (Zoroastrianism is o"cially the world’s smallest religion), Mazarine took up Art as her major in the 10th grade just to make school life easier and in the same year won the state award. What got her truly hooked to Art was her school trip to Bombay’s famous Jehangir Art Gallery, which was within walking distance from school. Having discovered the gallery, she would often walk there with friends in her lunch break to admire the works of Indian masters and other upcoming artists. This inspired her to pursue a degree in Applied Art at Bombay’s Sophia College where for five years she trained to be an Art Director.

Mazarine is a realistic artist, she loves faces and expressions, her paintings are an open book - easy to read. She confesses that abstract is “really not her thing,” she describes herself as a “reluctant-abstract artist,” no wonder you can see shades of realism creep into her abstracts. She claims her work is “what it is”, easy going, pleasant and fairly simple to read. Her definition of art is fairly simplistic - It must be aesthetic, creative, have a theme, and at a minimum demonstrate the artist’s skill with the medium, i.e., it must have appeal because of the artist’s ability demonstrated in a particular piece, not his prior reputation or the fame of his other pieces.

Mazarine is skilled in a variety of mediums – Pencils, Pastels, Oils, Acrylics, Charcoal, Pen & inks. Her works have homes in India, Australia, France, Switzerland, Pakistan, Canada, Indonesia, Cyprus, Bahrain and the UAE.

Her two recent solo exhibitions were held in Karachi, Pakistan and in Nicosia, Cyprus in April 2008. She has also exhibited in Chelsea, New York in January 2009. Her body of works can viewed on her web site www.mazarinememon.com

Title: Yatra Size: 36” x 48” Medium: Acrylic on canvas Nasr Warour - Syria Warour studied his Masters in Damascus University 1986-1995 as well as in Suweida institute for fine art 1985-1986. In 2000 he moved to Dubai where he continues to create art.

O"cial Exhibitions đŏ Suweida, ArtCenter, Suweida, Syria 1986. đŏ Suweida Cultural Center, Suweida, Syria 1986. đŏ Syrian Annual Art Exhibition – National Museum, Damascus- Syria 1997. đŏ Latakia Biennale (recognition), Latakia- Syria 1998 . đŏ Youth first art exhibition, Al Shaab Ballroom (award), Damascus 1998 . đŏ Syrian Annual Art Exhibition – National Museum, Damascus - Syria1999. đŏ Fine Art Syndicate Exhibition, Suweida- Al Shaab ballroom, Damascus 1999. đŏ Artuel- Beirut, Beirut- Lebanon 1999. đŏ Florence Biennale, Seventh Edition, Florence- Italy (Lorenzo El Magnifico Award) 2009. đŏ Shanghai Art Fair, Shanghai- China September 2010. đŏ Art Dubai 2011, Dubai- UAE. đŏ Izmir Biennale (Guest), Izmir- Turky 2011 đŏ Beirut Art Fair, Beirut- Lebanon 2013. đŏ Syrian Contemporary Art Fair, Beirut- Lebanon 2013. đŏ Dublin Biennale, Ireland 2014.

Title: Talisman Size: 15” x 19” Medium: Acrylic and (ink on paper) on canvas Radhika Hamlai - Oman My works are an unending inquiry in deep philosophical dilemmas and complexities of human relationship. Finding the ultimate delight beyond the reach of basic sensory experiences perceived through meditation, cannot stay away from the ultimate truth. Spaces in one’s mind are hauntingly empty and at the same time alive and intricate. There are mixed feelings, a story about a relationship with the surroundings gaining little by little, peace by means of tranquility, a reason resulting from absorption of mind into the self not contemplating anything else. The sensuality dwelling in one’s mind can capture a mysterious spiritual experience through meditation.

Here in Oman I live in a matching world of beautiful nature, bright color and dramatic light, where everything a!ects me; and I believe that things happen as they should expressing moods, speaks of dreams and are meant to help us feel free.

Title: Untitled Size: 78” x 78” Medium: Wall hanging in wool Suchi Chidambaram - India As a young child Chidambaram was always interested in art and spent most of her free time drawing. She learnt to paint through observation and experiment. Later she received formal training from K.C. Murukesan, a senior artist from Kallandiri well known for his abstract landscapes. His encouragement and techniques influenced her greatly. She moved to London in 1998 and continues to visit India to draw inspiration.

“For the last few years I have been concentrating on oil painting, and have been drawn to views of cities, their people, the architecture and the absorbing stories behind them. These are not painted in situ, rather they are painted from my distinctive memory of these places, often driven by my emotions,” she said.

Title: Blue Size: 40” x 40” Medium: Oil on canvas Tauseef Khan - India Tauseef Khan’s paintings of monuments through glasses are about “how we view history through the prism of the present,” he said. Khan sometimes paints in plain air and said security guards and visitors can’t understand why someone would sit at A tomb with wine glasses. “People thought I had come to drink at the monument,” he told us. “One time I had to shell out a bribe to appease an overly anxious security guard.”

SOLO EXHIBITIONS đŏ 2013 ‘’ Testament to Reflection’’ Nature Morte Oberoi, Gurgaon đŏ 2009 “Nowhere to Go”, Nature Morte, New Delhi

GROUP EXHIBITIONS đŏ 2014 “Five for the future at Nature Morte The Oberoi Gurgaon. đŏ 2013 “United Art Fair 2013 2nd Edition Pragati Maidan New Delhi. đŏ 2013 ‘’Media Flouishe’’ Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi đŏ 2013 ‘’Art A!air’’ Hacienda Gallery, Mumbai đŏ 2012’’ United Art Fair, Pragati Madan, New Delhi đŏ 2012 ‘’ Srijan’’ Sridharni Gallery, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi đŏ 2012 Audi Art Book Show ,Sponsored By Audi Group ,Gurgaon đŏ 2011 Young Contemporaries, Contemplate Art Gallery,Combatore đŏ 2011 ‘’Ten Whispers’’ ( National Academy of Art) Lalit Kala Akademy,New Delhi đŏ 2011 “COLLECTIVE METAMORPHOSIS” Curated by Kapil Chopra at Gallery Naure Morte, New Delhi đŏ 2011 ‘’77th All Indian Exhibition Of Art ‘’The Indian Academy Of Fine Art ,Amritsar đŏ 2010 “The Present is Now”, Painting Exhibition by Bestcollegeart.com, DLF Aralias Club, Gurgaon đŏ 2010 “2nd All India Art Exhibition October 2010”, Maharaja Art Gallery, Gurgaon đŏ 2010 “Autumn@CWG2010”, All India Paintings Drawings & Graphics Exhibition, ICCR, New Delhi đŏ 2009 New Paintings by upcoming Artists, Noida Private House, Noida Title: Amer fort reflection Size: 56’’ x 66’’ Medium: Oil on canvas Tina Chandroji - India “When I began painting this series in 2007-08, I wanted to capture this omnipresence of divinity in our lives. So, I have depicted various city landscapes and shown how nearly every public or private space has some space for a deity,”

The canvas is well over seven feet in height and it lends the image an almost three dimensional photographic perspective. Chandroji draws from memory and there is a generic quality to the spaces depicted on her canvas. The sabzi-mandi or the o"ce could just as easily be found in Chennai as in Mumbai. It took the artist, who works on several canvases simultaneously, nearly four-five months to finish each artwork, packed as they are with minute details.

A photography major from the JJ School of Art in Mumbai, Chandroji, 34, had always been interested in craftsmanship. Then, during her course at JJ, she had joined art director Nitin Desai to work under him on Bollywood projects that would help her pick up the detail of working on a large scale. She was an assistant art director on the set of the first season of Kaun Banega Crorepati and worked on the Salman Khan starrer Lucky-No Time for Love (2005). She moved to painting after the birth of her children, and had her first solo show at Lalit Kala Akademi in 2012. After Delhi, she has another show coming up in the UAE.

Title: Antique Size: 120’’x 72’’ Medium: Oil on Canvas Uzma Dadabai - Bahrain Uzma Dadabai is a self-taught artist who has developed her own style of Arabic calligraphy, drawing her inspiration purely from the Names of God and verses (Ayahs) from the Holy Quran.

Uzma was born and schooled in Karachi, Pakistan. She completed a Bachelor of Arts degree before her marriage to Qutub Dadabai, a well renowned Bahraini businessman, and her subsequent move to settle in Bahrain fourteen years ago.

Painting has been Uzma’s passion and pastime from as early as her memory serves her. “I used to write words from the Quran on top of each other when I was just five years old and at seven years of age, I won a prestigious award from the Pakistani Prime Minister’s wife for a drawing of a mosque,” she happily reminisces, adding, “My only inspiration is – and always has been – God’s name, and this manifests in my work.”

Uzma likes to experiment with Arabic calligraphy in di!erent textures but makes it a point to utilise semi-precious stones. Believing that God’s name should be celebrated and its artistic expression should aim to be reflective of Divine Light (Noor), she sees gemstones as a manifestation of Divine glory in earthly form.

Her elaborate paintings use a mix of mediums, such as acrylics, fibre glass, semi-precious stones, etching, gold leaf, gilding etc. Her artwork consistently strives to convey the concepts of beauty, power and mysticism. “I feel very strongly about spirituality and my work reflects it. I always imagine Divine Light and all my concepts are connected to the light of God or energy and positivity,”

Title: Untitled Size: 36” x 24” Medium: Pigment and acrylic on cnvas Wahab Ja!er - Pakistan A businessman by profession, art collector and painter by passion, Wahab Ja!er can be called one of the most avid art-collectors with the work of 127 di!erent artists. According to him “They are not all Pakistani, as although 75% of the collection does comprise of works by artists of this country, I also have various contemporary works from India, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia, UK and Canada.”.

Karachi based Ja!er started out by buying Constable and Picasso prints done on canvas from a gentleman who used to come down from Lahore to Karachi to sell them. One day, he was persuaded by a friend to visit Ali Imam’s Indus Gallery from whom Ja!er bought a painting by Mobin-ul-Azeem. His friendship with the artist-turned-gallerist grew as Wahab began to frequent Indus Gallery. This was the genesis of his collection.

Wahab befriended many artists and also took classes from Ali Imam and Ahmed Parvez and with time made a name for himself as an artist.

Title: Three faces Size: 36” x 36” Medium: Acrylic on canvas Acknowledgements Special thanks to Chief Guest: John Whittingdale MP OBE Vaishali Thakker - Curator Chairman of Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee Consultants The Guild - Dubai All participating artists.

CURZONPR - London

LaylinDesign - Bahrain

Artist: Jaideep Mehrotra Title: Cubicles Ambika Vohra - Director Size: 72” x 72” and the entire team of Art Select Fine Art. Medium: Acrylic and mix media on canvas