Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Making Art Part of Life


Making Art Part Of Life

Working for 7 years with over 100 mostly master artists and 10 women art and crafts organizations, The Galleria has a deep understanding of art, artists and the market trends. Our aim is not just to support artists and sell art, but to make art part of life.

The three decades of war has devastated the art scene, however over a decade of reconstruction has officially done very little to reinvigorate art. Any significant achievement in the field of arts has mostly been private effort. There is a great disconnect between Afghan people and art, as very few homes have an art piece. For the most part, people have forgotten how to use art in their daily lives.

From a cultural perspective, art is the mirror of the culture and in the centuries to come, people would know this culture from its art. Economically speaking, the art market is currently an annual half-million dollar industry in Afghanistan. It employs approximately one thousand people; out of which only a handful live entirely on their craft. Everyone else has a daily job to supplement their income from art.

Creating opportunities that generate revenue for the artist while stimulating public interest in the arts has been the focus of The Galleria. For example, taking white marble from Herat and working with sculptors to make Afghan figurines such as burqa women and monuments of Afghanistan has not only generated revenue down the chain, but it has also created a new market which did not exist before. Furthermore, by paying royalty to artists to lend their art for book covers, post cards, and playing cards, we hope that art finds its way in the homes of Afghan people. While most target the 100,000+ expat community, The Galleria also caters to the 30 million Afghans for the continuity and sustainability of art in Afghanistan.

Past Activities
  • Seven City Tour of Afghan Arts in Films, 2005, USA [New York, Virginia, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco] & Canada [Toronto]
  • Istanbul Bi-Annual sponsoring 4 artists [Tawfiq Rahmani, President of Faculty of Fine Arts at Herat University, Ghafaar Ghafoori, Co-Founder of Center for Visual Arts Herat, Rahraw Omarzad, President of Center for Contemporary Art Afghanistan (CCAA), Leeza Ahmady, Curator at Asia Foundation, New York City] 2005
  • Building Cultural Bridges, sponsoring two artists [Yar Mohammad Taraki, Afghan-Canadian Master Artist & Samizai, independent Afghan-American Artist] to lecture and hold workshops at Kabul University, Herat University, Behzad High School of Herat, Center For Visual Arts in Herat and Turquoise Mountain in Kabul, 2007
  • Establishing The Galleria and the largest private fine arts gallery in Afghanistan
  • Afghanistan Art Exhibition, Agha Khan Foundation, Ottawa, Canada, 2011
  • Art Santa Fe, Exhibition of World Art, July 2012
  • Rock Festival, Co-sponsor, French Cultural Institute, September 2012

New To The Galleria

 Playing cards


Back of playing cards




















FIGURINES


Burqa Woman [Resin]


Burqa Woman [Gypsum]


Buddha of Bamiyan [white marble of Herat]





Burqa Woman [white marble of Herat]





















Bactrian Buddha head [white marble of Herat]





MONUMENTS OF AFGHANISTAN


Shah-e Do Shamshira Mosque on Kabul River [resin]
   

COMING SOON...
more monuments
water globe
calendars


 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Jaali Woodscreens

Jaali woodscreens are a traditional way of decorating, separating inside from outside, letting light in and heat out and partitioning a room or house into sections. In the high mountains of Hindukush, a branch of the Himalayas, where there was no glass, the jaali served the purpose. Likewise, in many parts of the Muslim world, having a jaali was not only practical but decorative.

With many designs and purposes, The Galleria offers a wide variety of shapes and sizes for your selection. Let us know which design you have in mind to beautify your home. We welcome all sizes and commissions. Our prices are very reasonable.
























Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Galleria Art Exhibition at Santa Fe July 2012



The Galleria was honored to be chosen as one of the galleries to exhibit its art at the International Contemporary Art Fair Santa Fe, July 12-15, 2012. Among over 30 galleries from the US, Canada, South America, Europe and Asia, The Galleria received a great deal of attention from exhibitors, the public and the media. Even some of our art was bought by the artists presenting at the fair!

Many expressed amazement at the level of sophistication, detail and creativity of Afghan artists, especially coming off three decades of war. Featuring the mud work of Akram, tar work of Mohammad Zia Forogh, free style pen of Tawfiq Rahmani, intricate and beautiful designs of Abdul Nasser Sawaby, colorful acrylics of Nawid Fazli, reed pen strokes of Najibullah Anwari, traditional miniatures of Yonus and abstract watercolor of Raashed Rahmani, The Galleria’s booth was a major attraction.

Santa Fe is a small city in the state of New Mexico, USA. Its mud fashioned houses, manicured city, beautifully decorated small shops and lovely people are so much a reminiscent of what Kabul could have been like had it not been for the war. The Galleria was offered this opportunity at a reduced rate and the amount of exposure and experience we have gained is tremendous. We sincerely thank the organizers of Art Santa Fe and the media for their time and kindness.

The Galleria is an independent and self-sufficient art market, including the finest art gallery in Afghanistan. Working closely with master craftsmen, The Galleria is like a shared space for fine Afghan crafts. Ran by artists, headed by a woman artist, The Galleria is a successful model of Afghan ran business based on heard work and personal funding of the artists. Its aim is to support the artists and encourage creativity through arts.


Please read some of the articles mentioning The Galleria:
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/812537/a-preview-of-this-weekends-art-santa-fe-and-other-goings-on-in-the-southwestern-citys-summer-of-art
http://www.artandantiquesmag.com/2012/07/santa-fe-summer-art/
http://www.reginafoster.com/images/preview-CCA.pdf
http://www.artltdmag.com/downloads/NEW%20MEXICO%20SUPPLEMENT%5Bweb%5D.pdf
http://www.artsantafe.com/







Pictures of the event

  








Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Art of Fazli

Fazli acquired his Master of Fine Arts from Iran in 2010 in Modern Art. He's one of the few artists in Afghanistan with a graduate degree in fine arts. Some of his work is part of The Galleria's Permanent Collection











































Lamps

New designs coming soon...












Sculptures






Sculptures of any size accepted