Locally-made products and artistic designs will be on display at a new gallery in Segaiya to promote young Bahraini entrepreneurs.

The +973 Gallery is a one-of-a-kind concept that will host different designers in a bid to create awareness about helping young businesses across the country, our sister newspaper, the Gulf Daily News reported.

It is part of the Wihda Wahda (Let's Unite) campaign - a national scheme aimed to kick-start social reconciliation among Bahrain's youth after the unrest.

The gallery has adopted a quarterly concept where products made by contributing artists will be displayed for three months a year, allowing more entrepreneurs the chance to take part and make a name for themselves.

It is the brainchild of Mayasem Communication chief executive officer Dr Shaikha May Al Otaibi, who spearheaded the Wihda Wahda campaign, and features a variety of merchandise including furniture, shawls, accessories, jewellery, watches, traditional Bahraini clothes, children's wear and furniture, covers, cushions, local perfumes and home accessories.

It is being run by Ajyal Events and exhibition director Nahla Al Mahmood and is sponsored by Tamkeen.

"The gallery is part of the Wihda Wahda campaign, which started last year and will continue until the end of this year," said Al Mahmood.

"Basically Wihda Wahda has four stages and this is part of the third stage which is the economic development stage, which also includes mentorships and other programmes."

She said the concept of the gallery was to display unique items available for a limited time to give customers an individual identity, while also supporting the country's young entrepreneurs.

"We have a couple of people who have ready-made items, but we are focusing more on unique items and the exclusivity of the items," she added.

"For example, there are a lot of artists who have interpreted the cultural aspect of Bahrain and have incorporated it into modern items such as phone covers, cushions or watches.”

"Some of the products are stocked as not all of them are handmade, some of them use factories for example in Hong Kong or Thailand, to produce their items, but they are all designed locally with some local flavour.”

"It doesn't just stop here, we are trying to offer them (participating artists) workshops and to enrol them in seminars so they can benefit from the whole experience, so it is not just another venue," she said.

Involved

Meanwhile, Dr Al Otaibi said the +973 concept, which was named after Bahrain's country code, aims to bridge the gap between communities caused by two years of unrest through the use of art.

"The idea is to have everyone involved, but at the same time to have something unique for the market which hasn't happened before.”

"This is the only artisan in Bahrain. An artisan is place where the work of the people of the country is mixed with European art which will showcase the local talent of these people."

The gallery features 25 artists every three months and organisers hope to reach 50 Bahrainis in the future.

It will also have an integrated cafŽ, where people can speak to the artists and browse through the displayed items.

Participating artists will be charged five per cent as admission fee, which will be used to run the gallery. – TradeArabia News Service