A Pioneer of Bahraini Abstract Art and Cultural Identity

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Bahraini artist Balqees Fakhro traces the roots of her artistic journey to her childhood, where shelves of books and artistic references in her family library helped shape her identity long before she began shaping her canvases.

“I didn’t know if I was talented,” she recalled. “But I found myself immersed in the world of colors and shapes, nourished by my father’s library and my sister Munira’s, which was an art school in itself.”

From this nurturing environment, Fakhro embarked on a path of academic and artistic exploration, traveling from Bahrain to Lebanon and later to the United States.

Initially studying psychology and philosophy, she eventually shifted her focus to the arts while in Iowa, later specializing in painting and art history in San Francisco.

This transition marked the beginning of a career that blends talent, academic training, and philosophical reflection.

Return

Fakhro returned to Bahrain in 1975 with degrees in fine arts and art history. At a time when the Kingdom’s art scene was still emerging and largely centered around realism, she introduced a new perspective.

Her first major participation was in the 1976 Bahrain Annual Fine Arts Exhibition, where she won an award for an impressionist painting.

Her move toward abstraction evolved gradually.

Personal circumstances, including a break from the art scene during her years of motherhood, allowed her to return in the 1980s with a renewed vision.