TAMANI Hotels and Resorts has a very close relationship with the world of Arabic and Islamic Art. Through Art there is an immediate and direct connection to the complex civilization that transcend for thousands of years.

As a brand conviction, we try to showcase classical as well as modern art to give our customers an insight into the rich tapestry off Islamic heritage and society. Through the various art forms, we find that art cuts through the differences in language, culture and creed, and provides an intellectual and spiritual connection that is uplifting to the mind and soul.

For our future hotels, we will aspire to design and build hotel’s to accommodate beautiful art pieces that add value to their surroundings.

ABDUL-QADER AL-RAIS (EMIRATI, B. 1951) Abdul-Qader Al-Rais was born in 1951 in Kuwait. An autodidact, he has exhibited his work around the world and has won numerous prizes including first prize at the Arab Painters’ Exhibition in Kuwait and the Fold Medal at the Spring Exhibition in Abu Dhabi. Abdul Qader has lived in the U.A.E. for many years and is one of the country’s most celebrated artists. While working as a legal advisor to the Labour Ministry, Al-Rais developed his talent for painting and also exhibited in numerous small exhibitions in Morocco, the Czech Republic, Germany, Lebanon and U.S.A. He draws inspiration from the region’s landscape and many of his compositions feature traditional doors and windows, whilst others are based on the Arabic letterform and some are purely abstract.

ABDULLAH MURAD (SYRIAN, B. 1944) One of the foremost Syrian abstract artists, Murad was born in Homs in 1944 and graduated from the Fine Arts Faculty of Damascus in 1970. In the 1980s and 1990s he represented Syria at the biennials of Sharjah and Istanbul and was exhibited in Galleries in Lebanon. A spontaneous painter, Murad paints in an improvised style, which is at once both expressive and purely abstract.

RAFA NASIRI (IRAQI, B. 1940) After Nasiri completed his studies in painting at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad in 1959, he traveled to China to study printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. In 1967 he was awarded a scholarship from the Gulbenkian Foundation after which he began working in various printmaking studios in Europe and the Middle East. A winner of several international prizes, Nasiri was also a jury member for international exhibitions in Europe and Cairo. Like his Iraqi contemporaries, he was also a member of the ‘New Vision’ Group and his work was included in international touring exhibitions including the ‘Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art’ exhibition hosted and organized by the University of North Texas, USA, in 2005. In 2006, his work was included in the ‘Word into Art’ exhibition at the British Museum, which recently traveled to Dubai and showed at the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) in March 2008. He also recently participated in the ‘Iraqi Artists in Exile’ exhibition at Houston Museum for Contemporary Art, USA, November 2008.

YOUSUF AHMAD (QATARI, B. 1955) Born in Doha, Yousuf Ahmad is a member of the first generation of modern artists in Qatar. He studied abroad and received a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Mills College, California in 1982. Inspired by the forms and the hues of the desert landscape of his native Qatar and by Arabic calligraphy, his paintings are often collages or mixed-media works where colours and textures derive from natural elements. Lines are running across the canvas or wood; letters and patterns are layered with architectural shapes. Ahmed has been exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and the Arab World and is the Director of the New Arab Art Museum in Doha.

ASAAD ARABI (SYRIAN, B. 1941) Born in 1941 in Damascus, Asaad Arabi graduated with a BA in painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts, Damascus, followed by another diploma in painting from the Higher Institute of Fine Arts Paris, before completing his Doctorate in Aesthetics at the University of Sorbonne, in 1987. Arabi worked as a Professor at both the Faculty of Fine Arts and at the Faculty of Architecture in Damascus. He moved to Paris in 1975, where he has lived ever since, punctuated by long visits to Damascus. He is a renowned art critic, researcher and lecturer on the aesthetics of Arab and Islamic art. His work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, France, England, Brazil and Korea. Works by Arabi can be found in the National Museum of Damascus, The Syrian Ministry of Culture, The National Gallery, Amman, The Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, The National Museum, New Dehli, The Barcelona Museum, and in many distinguished private collections in the Gulf.