Pg36-37 Listings.qxd:GW Master

September 5 - 11, 2007
www.gulfweekly.com
BAHRAIN Scrabble League offers
scrabble lovers a chance to play
some of the world’s top exponents
in the Gulf Air Pre-World Scrabble
Championship tournament. Taking
Sunday (September 9)
• Oriental Night at Le Jardin
Restaurant in Adliya, every
Sunday, from 7pm to 11pm.
Buffet is priced at BD9 per
person inclusive of a glass of
house beverage. For more
information contact at 17742000.
Monday (September 10)
• The Al Jasra Handicrafts
Centre, in the Al Jasra village
near the Saudi causeway
houses traditional handicrafts
like palm weaving, pottery and
woodwork. The centre is open
from 8am to 2pm. Contact the
centre at 17 611900.
• Private pilates classes at the
World Beat Fitness Centre in
Janabiya from 4pm to 6pm. Pilates ball at 6:3pm and belly
dancing at 7:00pm for beginners. Also, Latin classes for
improvers at 7:30pm and basic
Latin at 8:30pm. For more information, contact 17-612576.
Tuesday (September 11)
• Latin and ballroom classes
held at the Nautilus Fitness
Centre in Crowne Plaza, Manama. Fee is BD3 per head.
For more information contact
39640766.
• Bahrain Oil Museum, on the
way to Zallaq, displays drilling
equipments, old photographs
and a working model of an oil
rig. The museum is located
next to the first oil well in the
Middle East. For more information contact on 17753475
or 17756587.
For the diary:
• Leading Pakistani rock band
Roxen featuring Mustafa,
Jawad and Omar are set to
perform in Bahrain on November 1 at the Al Ahli Club in
Zinj. Roxen For free promotional CDs of the band contact
36673301 and 36611425.
Ticket details and dates will
soon be announced.
• An exhibition entitled ‘The
Doors to Yemen’ will be presented by notable personalities from Yemen – antique
dealer Mohamed Al Thamari
and movie director and writer
Khadija Al Salami. The exhibition will be held at the La
Fontaine Centre in Manama
on October 4. For more information call on 17230123
or log on to
www.lafontaineartcentre.com
READERS
If you are organising
an event and would
like it to be
included in our
popular
‘Out & About’ section
please email
shilpa.chandran@gulf
weekly.com
place at Bahrain’s Yateem Centre
on Friday, from 8am to 7pm, the
league expects 25 participants
from across the GCC.
The winner of the competition will
fly to Malaysia to compete in the
Causeway Challenge on November 30 to December 2.
The pre-WSC contest at Yateem
Centre will have eight rounds with
37
cash prizes for second and third
places as well as those topping divisions B and C.
For more information call
17242641.
Triple treat for culture club
BAHRAIN’S art enthusiasts are in for a treat beginning this month with the kingdom’s culture
club, Elham, hosting a list of programmes for its
Autumn/Winter sessions.
On September 25 three renowned creative
personalities will present their skills and talents
at the Lina’s Café in the Wind Tower, Diplomatic
Area, Manama.
• An artist – Arthur D’Souza will discuss the
unique technique which he used to to create his
innovative photographic artworks, which he
refers to as ‘Positively Paper’. Combining positive film with coloured paper, layered between
sheets of glass, the result is dramatic images
with amazing depth and colour. Mr D’Souza is
currently running an exhibition at the café.
• A writer - South African
Melissa van Maasdyk will
read a short essay set in
Paris that reflects her passion. This has also seen her
work as a food and travel
writer/editor for magazines including Marie Claire, Style
and Elle Decoration in SA and
the UK, while pursuing a ‘travelly’ novel that, four years on,
she’s begun to refer to as ‘the
never-ending story’.
• An oud player and awardwinning poet - Bahraini poet
Hameed Al Qaed, will recite
poems from his most recent
work - an anthology entitled
Arthur D’Souza
‘Pearl, Dreams of the Shell’.
Published in the USA and
launched in Bahrain in August, this anthology includes
poems by 29 of Bahrain’s
leading modern poets translated into English by Hameed.
Apart from contributing to
various publications and
recitals, both at home and
abroad, Hameed has published two collections of his
own poetry, including ‘Noise
of Whisper’ (in Arabic and
English), which won Bahrain’s
coveted Distinguished Book
Award in 2003, and will be
bringing out another shortly.
Hameed’s partner in this oneoff collaboration, Bahrain-born
Hameed Al Qaed
Hasan Al Hajair will also visit
the club from Japan, where he is currently completing a postgraduate degree in economic history, while actively pursuing a sideline in music.
Having played the classical guitar from an
early age, Hasan took up the oud while studying
in New York, where his experiences following
9/11 compelled him to rediscover Middle Eastern history, society and arts.
In Tokyo today, he often collaborates with various musicians in an effort to promote understanding and cultural awareness.
• Elham (Arabic for ‘muse’) was launched in November 2006 by writer Ali Al Saeed, writer and
lecturer Deonna Kelli Sayed and artist Phoebe
Melissa van Maasdyk
Boswell with an aim to provide
a forum for Bahrain’s creative
people to meet up and showcase their work.
With growing popularity, the
club now hosts monthly gatherings.
Each session showcases the
talents of at least three people,
including both aspiring and established artists in fields from
filmmaking to fiction-writing, via
painting, sculpture, music and
photography.
This season Elham is adding a few satellite
sessions that include a date with British sculptor
Ronn Beattie, who will introduce interested parties to her organic, cerebral pieces made from
recycled materials on September 29, a weekly
writers’ circle from October 20, a photographer’s
day out on December 7 and a jazz jamming session on December 14. The programme starts at
8.30pm. For more information, call on 17-717
441 or visit www.elhambahrain.com.
Poems by Bahraini poet Hameed Al Qaed:
GREEN COFFEE
The man sitting in the café
Drinking his cold coffee
Counting his days by the number of those dead
Suddenly he remembered that he had sunk in
the cup
When he extended his hand to pull himself out
He realised that the lady with green eyes
Who was sitting in front of him
Had stolen his heart
STRANGER
The airports gather up their luggage
And depart
The stranger never departs himself
He is secluded inside
Alone
Blaming himself of sins
That snaps at his calmness
NIGHT
He went to extinguish the night
The stars protested
He came back with his heart gouged out
OLD ADVICE
The road of poetry is agony
Wrought with thorns
And ending in depression
Said my father when I was young:
“You have chosen to burn”
“How delicious,” I replied, “the taste of ashes”