FREE Established 1961 Friday ISSUE NO: 18487 THULHIJJA 6, 1442 AH FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2021 42 dead in Germany as storms ravage Europe See Page 10 2 Friday Local Friday, July 16, 2021 By Nawara Fattahova Ghareeb: In the beginning, when I started KT: Do you only draw portraits? my career in fine arts, the drawing time was Ghareeb: I’m able to draw in many styles of o art exhibitions were held last year in much longer than today. I gained skills prac- all art schools, including realism, surrealism, Kuwait due to the lockdown, while only ticing this art, and one picture now takes me abstract, cubism and sensual. I can also Na few small art exhibitions have been two to three days to finish. execute these paintings with different kinds held this year. But artists are still creating art- of colors, including oil colors, watercolors, works during the coronavirus pandemic. KT: Where did you learn this art? pastels and acrylic. But drawing portraits Meet Kuwaiti artist Hanan Al-Ghareeb, Ghareeb: My passion for this type of art with coal is my favorite and I find myself in it. who tried to turn the pandemic into a positive made me search for art courses provided by event with her drawings. “I’m still creating certified teachers and artists, such as Mona KT: In how many exhibitions have you artworks. During the curfew, I had even more Al-Hazim. I was also self-learning through participated? time, and I finished many beautiful pieces,” the Internet, reading and searching for infor- Ghareeb: I have participated in many exhibi- she told Kuwait Times. Ghareeb draws using mation to gain experience. tions. The most important ones include coal, which is not a common medium. Some Kuwait Pearls Expo, Al-Rabia Expo, Gulf excerpts: KT: Since when are you drawing? Group Artists Expo, Manarat Al-Arab Expo Ghareeb: Since I was a child in preschool, I and others. Kuwait Times: How do you draw with loved to draw with all kinds of colors and coal? materials. When I grew up, I started focusing KT: Where did you study and where do Hanan Al-Ghareeb: This kind of drawing on drawing with coal. you work? needs some special tools. These include Ghareeb: I graduated from Kuwait University pencils, coal powder, different kinds of coal with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood pencils, brushes and special paper for coal education. I’m also a certified trainer in this drawing. field. I also work as a kindergarten teacher. KT: Is this kind of art difficult? KT: Is any of your family members an Ghareeb: Although the material used in my artist? drawing is very simple - coal - it requires Ghareeb: I have noticed that all of my chil- creativity, high precision skills, fine detailing, dren have a passion for art. I hope they suc- accurate shading in the right place and ceed in this field, and I will always support evenly distributing the coal powder on the them. painting. KT: How long does it take you to finish one piece? Kuwaiti artist Hanan Al-Ghareeb 4 Friday Local Friday, July 16, 2021 KUWAIT: People stand in line to check in at the counter at Kuwait International Airport in Kuwait City yesterday. Kuwait has announced a nine-day Eid Al-Adha holiday, which many people have opted to spend on vacation outside the country to escape the Gulf state’s scorching heat and after a year of flight disruption due to COVID-19 restrictions. Kuwait is only allowing people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to travel. — Photos by Yasser Al-Zayyat Friday 5 Local Friday, July 16, 2021 6 Friday Local Friday, July 16, 2021 Saudi hosts vaccinated pilgrims for second downsized hajj RIYADH: Saudi Arabia will host another down- to take part. “The Saudi government wants to sized hajj from Saturday, with only residents fully play it completely safe by barring foreign pil- vaccinated against the coronavirus permitted grims for the second consecutive year,” Umar and overseas Muslim pilgrims barred for a sec- Karim, a visiting fellow at Britain’s Royal United ond year. The kingdom seeks to repeat last Services Institute, told AFP. “But frustration is year’s success that saw no virus outbreak during growing across the Muslim world that could the five-day Muslim ritual. It is allowing 60,000 raise questions about the kingdom’s role as the residents of Saudi Arabia to participate, higher custodian of holy mosques and result in a reduc- than in 2020 but drastically lower than in normal tion of its religious soft power. It also spells dis- times. People will begin to arrive on Saturday, a aster for the hajj economy worldwide.” day before the start of rites. In 2019, some 2.5 million Muslims from around the world partici- ‘Weigh on recovery’ pated in the annual hajj — a key pillar of Islam The hajj and year-round umrah pilgrimages that is a must for able-bodied Muslims at least are usually a key revenue earner for the king- once in their lifetime. dom, not to mention airlines and travel agen- Earlier this month, the hajj ministry said it was cies. In normal times, they together rake in working on the “highest levels of health precau- some $12 billion (10.3 billion euros) annually, tions” in light of the pandemic and the emer- keeping the economy humming in Makkah. But gence of new variants. Chosen from more than downsizing the rituals, which will run until 558,000 applicants through an online vetting MAKKAH: A combination of file pictures shows (left) few Muslim pilgrims praying on Mount Arafat, Tuesday, the first day of post-Ramadan holi- system, the event is confined to those who have also known as Jabal al-Rahma (Mount of Mercy), southeast of the holy city of Makkah, during the cli- days, has hit government revenues and bat- been fully vaccinated and are aged 18-65 with max of the Hajj pilgrimage amid the COVID-19 pandemic on July 30, 2020 and (right) pilgrims gather- tered businesses that support hundreds of no chronic illnesses, it said. ing on Mount Arafat early on August 20, 2018. — AFP thousands of jobs in the holy city, from travel The pilgrimage, which typically packs large agents to street barbers and souvenir shops. crowds into congested religious sites, is poten- Makkah has seen a construction boom in tially a super-spreader of the virus. Aside from ing the pilgrimage — is expected to be kept out multiple health facilities, mobile clinics and recent years that added shopping malls, apart- strict social distancing measures, the ministry of reach. ambulances to cater for the pilgrims, who were ments and luxury hotels, some offering spec- said it will introduce a “smart hajj card” to allow taken to the religious sites in small batches. tacular views of the sacred Kaaba. But most contact-free access to camps, hotels and buses ‘Frustration is growing’ They were also given amenity kits that premises have seen fewer customers since the to ferry pilgrims around religious sites. The card Saudi Arabia has so far recorded more than included sterilized pebbles for the “stoning of pandemic. “The Saudi government’s confirma- system would also help track down any missing 503,000 coronavirus infections, including over Satan” ritual, disinfectants, masks, a prayer rug tion that the hajj pilgrimage will be extremely pilgrims, it added. 8,000 deaths. More than 20 million vaccine dos- and ihram, the traditional seamless white hajj limited this year will weigh on the kingdom’s Authorities have deployed black-and-white es against coronavirus have been administered garment, made from a bacteria-resistant material economic recovery,” said Capital Economics, a robots to dispense bottles of sacred water from in the country of over 34 million people. Hosting the hajj is a matter of prestige for research consultancy. “The government is the Zamzam spring in Makkah’s Grand Mosque, The hajj went ahead last year on the smallest Saudi rulers, for whom the custodianship of clearly concerned that a larger hajj could spark built around the Kaaba, the black cubic structure scale in modern history, with authorities initially Islam’s holiest sites is their most powerful source a surge in COVID-19 cases and possibly risk towards which Muslims around the world pray. saying only 1,000 pilgrims were allowed but of political legitimacy. But barring overseas pil- importing new virus variants, which could The revered Black Stone in the Kaaba — which local media saying up to 10,000 took part. No grims has caused resentment and anguish among force them to tighten restrictions that harm the it is customary but not mandatory to touch dur- infections were reported as authorities set up Muslims worldwide, who typically save for years economy.” — AFP ally be one of the largest religious gatherings and then rebuilt by Abraham 4,000 years ago. each of three huge concrete walls representing The hajj, one in the world. Pilgrims next walk seven times between two Satan. The ritual is an emulation of Abraham’s stone spots in the mosque. They then move on stoning of the devil at the three spots where it of the five pillars White garments to Mina, around five kilometers (three miles) is said Satan tried to dissuade him from obey- Pilgrims must first enter a state of purity, away, ahead of the main rite of the pilgrimage ing God’s order to sacrifice his son, Ishmael. called ihram, which requires special dress and at Mount Arafat. After the first stoning, the Eid Al-Adha feast of of Islam behavior.