Setting their art on culture

As more women pick up the brush, a Dubai gallery is hosting a group exhibition showcasing the best talent around.

Called Donne in Art, the exhibition brings together eight artists from Japan, Bangladesh, Italy, the UAE and Iran.

Ghada Kunash, the managing director of Vindemia Art, Antiques and Collectible Gallery, which is backing the show, said: "Women are different and yet so similar. These ladies, from different backgrounds and countries, speak about their experiences in very different ways. You can see a contrast between suffering and happiness."

The youngest artist, Marjan Khalil Ahmadi, from Iran, combines spirituality and calligraphy in her paintings.

Italian artist Simonetta Porazzo is inspired by the elements of nature, as suggested in her bronze statues, ceramics and collage compositions stretching from floor to ceiling.

Inspired by Picasso and Rodin, Porazzo said it was important for her to exhibit her work outside Italy. "It's necessary for art to travel and the artist to see new cultures," she said.

The works of Wafa Khazendar, the only artist from the UAE, are acrylic paintings that will make you smile with their large characters in funny postures. The Impressionist artist with Cubist influences paints recurring figures — a woman with thick lips and large hands, a cat and a bird. "The lips are to say the characters are free to express their opinions," Khazendar said. Her paintings are priced from Dh2,000-Dh15,000.

Also a poet, Khazendar said: "I have this vision from childhood. Then, I would just read, write and paint. I miss my childhood, so I draw it."

In addition to paintings, statues and installations, Donne in Art also showcases jewellery by Japanese artist Kako Komatsu. She designs custom jewellery with the stones used to read the energy of her clients. Her works are priced from Dh1,000-Dh6,000.

The exhibition also showcases the works of Zahura Sultana, Anna Caser, Nicoletta Burdesso and Nilofar Mehrin.