Artist Maryam Ghanem Al Attiyah (centre) explains one of her works to Olympics bronze medallist Nasser Al Attiyah in the presence of Nadia Abdulrahman Al Mudahka, General Manager of Souq Waqif Art Centre, yesterday.Shaival Dalal BY RAYNALD C RIVERA DOHA: Qatari Olympic bronze medallist Nasser Al Attiyah inaugurated the very first solo exhibition of artist Maryam Ghanem Al Attiyah at the recently opened Souq Waqif Art Centre yesterday. A total of 18 paintings created by the artist this year adorn the walls of three galleries at the Centre impressing fellow Qatari artists and guests at the launch of the expo last night. “This particular collection is inspired by every thing that surrounds me, people and places that have had profound impact in me,” Maryam told The Peninsula, adding she likes depicting life in her paintings in abstract way. Titled ‘Memoirs of Maryam,’ the retrospective presents the oil paintings dominated by landscapes expressing varied subjects such as silence, stillness, memories, freedom and hope. “This is the second exhibition since Souq Waqif Art Centre reopened and I like this particularly because it depicts the artist’s vision of the future through her memoirs,” Nadia Abdulrahman Al Mudahka, General Manager of Souq Waqif Art Centre, told The Peninsula. She expressed high regard to the artist being self-taught and “because as an artist she pushes herself hard to excel in her art coming up with these very nice paintings.” Maryam graduated from Qatar University with a degree in English. Although her penchant for visual arts started at a tender age, she said she began taking arts seriously venturing into digital painting in early 2000 and in oil painting three years ago. “I do not like naming the colours that I mix together, nor to speak too much. I prefer silence and make each painting talk about itself with all simplicity, modesty and secrecy,” said Maryam. The exhibition is open to the public for three weeks and for those interested to own some of Maryam’s paintings, they are for sale. The Peninsula

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