Issa Saqer Abdulla
Khalef(1940 - 2003) was born in Kuwait Town in 1940 in a
family of modest means. His father Saqer Abdulla was a
fisherman with a happy disposition for carpentry and
reading.
In his early childhood Issa was fascinated by his father's
exquisite carving on furniture he was making for the home.
His quiet, attentive look must have impressed the older man,
for he loved to have him around whenever he was working on
something. When Issa grew a little older father encouraged
him to make his own toys, which he did. He used to make
little tin-boats for racing with other children on the shore
.The "tennak" as it was called, was a boat made of old
oil-cans with room capacity for one person and Issa used to
finish it in attractive colors .He was equally clever in
making other toys, such as kites; so beautiful were the
things he was making that children were eager to buy them
from him. His attachment to his father fostered in him a
love for reading as well as for fishing. In good weather
fishing was his love and passion, in winter, during the
emigrating season, bird catching was another of his
predilections in which he indulged considerable time and
ingenuity in making his own traps.
He started school in Ahmedia, whose headmaster was renown
for his severity and disciplinary methods. Children in those
frugal days went to school carrying along only a little bag
filled with pebbles to easy mathematical operations .In
class each student received a stick of chalk and a little
black board on which to scrabble his lesson. During drawing
lessons pencils and a sketchbooks were distributed around.
Sometime the subject to be drawn was of liberal choice, at
others it was a still life, and at the end of the lesson the
books and pencils were collected and given back to the
teacher.
Issa had been drawing and sketching on wet sand and on the
walls of houses ever since he could remember, ships and
boats was his favorite subject. By a fortuitous coincidence
he was leaving school at about the same time a club for
young artists was being opened.
At that time Issa was holding a job and in hearing about the
atelier, he promptly wrote an application letter accompanied
by a clay sculpture for evaluation. Accepted, he was one of
the first artists who joined the Free Atelier; with him were
Beder Al Qatami and Abdulla Al Qassar. Few months later they
were joined by Khalifa Qattan, Sami Mohammed, Qasaal Al
Qaffas and others. In a very short while the Free Atelier
had become the meeting place of artists and art lovers. The
place was provided with a substantial library, material for
painting and sculpture, and teachers supervising and giving
lessons, all free of change.
From the sculptor, Anuar Al Saroogi, Issa and his companions
learned the fundamental principles of sculpture, and from
the painters, Hamed Hamaida and Ahmed Al Warji, the
principles of painting technique.
From the very beginning the Free Atelier was a successful
project and this flared the enthusiasm of those whose
ambition was to make it the nucleus of a future school of
art On the suggestion of Hamed Hamaida the most promising
were allowed to practice art unbounded by jobs
. In 1961 Issa was the first artist to be sponsored by the
Government. Khalifa Qattan came next, after his successful
tour of personal exhibitions abroad in 1962, and appointed
Director of the atelier in the fall of that year. Sami
Mohammed and Qasaal Al Qaffas and others were sponsored in
the following years
Soon after being chosen Issa was in the first group of
artists being sent abroad for a course of study at the Art
Institute in Cairo, Egypt, (in 1962), with him were Beder Al
Qatami and Abdulla Al Qassar. Cairo in the sixties was in a
flare of cultural activity that inspired Issa with new
ideas.
Among his teacher at the college was the renown sculptor,
Jamal Alsigyni who took a special interest in him .At the
end of his term Issa was awarded the prize of the "Luxor
Atelier " -a four-years term scholarship which he refused;
for he was longing to be among his family and friends.
In 1966 Issa Saqer was back in Kuwait with his art diploma
and his head full of lofty dreams, which were readily
translated into beautiful sculptures in clay, deep in
philosophical thought. Unfortunately they were too
complicated to be cast in bronze and he later emerged with a
style simple and congruous, full of human portent,
comparatively easier for casting.
In 1967 Issa held his first personal exhibition, which was
well received by the public and media alike. In it most of
his works were philosophical; they were the products of a
highly creative mind still glowing with the intellectual
atmosphere of Cairo.
In his second personal exhibition, of 1976, Issa's style has
changed considerably, it was at once more direct in its
communicative appeal; a true incarnation of noble simplicity
and strength derived from knowledge of human nature, of the
habit of his people, the character of events and the
significance of arrested action. By eliminating the
superfluous and focusing the attention on the essential
features of objects Issa has brought forth an intensified
vision of his objective.
At his return to Kuwait from Egypt (1966) Issa Saqer became
attracted to the idea of forming a society of artists, which
Khalifa Qattan had been trying hard to establish since 1962.
Convinced of its necessity he backed the idea .By the fall
of 1967 there were enough votes to make the "Kuwait Plastic
Arts Society " feasible and in early 968 it was officially
established.In 1969 Issa Saqer settled down to married life
with a lady who understood his needs and yearning hence he
felt very comfortable with her. From his happy marriage two
sons and four daughters were born .
Issa's appreciation of his lady has been expressed in many
beautiful sculptures, and paintings, in which the soul of
woman is brought forth in all its humanity and tender appeal
with a touching charm of its own.
Almost all his women in bronze or clay, and "Motherhood" in
woodcarving, bear the nobility of expression, austere yet
gentle, of the typical Kuwaiti woman of the frugal past. The
reliable companion of man in hard and easier times whose
worthy example he found first in his mother, then in his
wife.
In his sculptures and paintings his human figures are solid
and permanently established, yet plastic and free the
suggestion of freedom being more emphatic in painting with
their vaporous backgrounds of mystic clouds and empty
spaces.
Since his return from Egypt (1966), and all through the
seventies Issa has been striving to improve his style both
in painting and sculpture. He joined numerous exhibitions in
Kuwait and abroad and supervised on many of them. He got
three gold medals for sculpture in the exhibitions sponsored
by the Kuwait Plastic Art Society of 1972 ©74©75, and the
"Golden Sail" of the fourth "Arabian Artist's Biennale "(the
Kuwaiti Biennale) in 1975. He attended international
conferences for sculptors in Canada and Spain and the G.C.C.
Cultural Week in Japan. In the first Environment Exhibition,
sponsored by the National Museum in 1987 he was awarded the
Shield of honor.
In the fall of 1981 Issa Saqer was in the U.S.A. at the
Johnson Institute of New Jersey with Sami Mohammed and
Qasaal Al Qaffas, for a full course in bronze ©casting. He
was in his early forty at the time, but the enthusiasm and
fire of youth had already gone from him, and he could not
readily adapt to his new surrounding away from family and
homeland .His elderly mother was dying, and that intensified
his yearning to be home. Finally he left the States without
finishing his training, an opportunity which he regretted
ever since .In 1983, shortly after his return, his mother
died.
Another reason for feeling uneasy in the U. S.A. were the
condition under which he had
to work. Issa Saqer is a free ,independent spirit,
accustomed all his life to work according to his own
inclination and mood without interference, or anyone looking
over his shoulders dictating every action .At the Johnson
Institute he had to conform to rules and regulations
peculiar to its curriculum and that made him uneasy .
The Institute was founded by a rich man with a love for
artistic expressions of a special kind, in which the spirit
is the element of surprise .
The man was not an artist himself, therefore he gathered
about him young graduates from art schools to substantiate
his dreams. The Institute provided young sculptors with
facilities and material of which they could take full
advantage in their own spare time ,but during working hours
they were working under his direction and planning. Some of
the sculptures idealized by him are seen in the most
unexpected places in the States, they are object of
curiosity and candid humor that evoke admiration and a
cheerful smile on everyone who comes across them.
In meeting with one of them Issa ,himself, got fooled by
their life-like pose and appearance .Shortly after his
arrival at New Jersey he was strolling in a park when he
spotted a place to sit, there he sat near an old man quietly
smoking his cigarette . He greeted the man, but did not get
a reply .A while later he continued his walk and forgot the
incident . Days after, when he returned to the park, he saw
he same man sitting in exactly the same pose; by then he
knew what was going on in the Institute. He observed the
cigarette with its characteristic incandescent tip, and
suspicious, he moved closer to scrutinize the figure
;suddenly he burst into laughter. It was made of bronze !
Another times, at a corner of a house he saw a couple , a
girl pinned against the wall and a man leaning over her .
Feigning not to notice them, he continued on his way.
Sometime later, he saw the same couple and he began laughing
, amused at having been fooled for the second time .
These were the sort of sculptures the man directed his young
artists to do . He would enter one day, calling everyone
around him, then describing in minute details what he had
seen, he would tell them to carry out the project. A small
model was made of it, which was studied and remodeled till
he was satisfied . After, a life-size model was made of it ;
the skin texture of the face and hands ,the clothing and
colors were all taken into account . A set of clothing of
the same material and stile was fashioned on the figure ,
sprayed with raising, and the whole underwent the lengthy
labor involved in casting . The project emerged into a
natural efflorescence of physical poise , a baffling work of
art of special interest, which ,unlike its counterparts
found in wax museums, could be placed anywhere outdoors in
places the least expected for sculptures to be , hence the
surprise effect on the people coming across them.
Issa learned a lot during the project : he learned to use
his imagination on a wider spectrum of interest beside all
the technical know-how involved in sculpturing and casting.
He was trained to form the habits of keener observations and
quick response to delicate expressions of subtle shades, and
combinations of shapes and hues and tones ,that is the basis
of sound aesthetic education .
Unfortunately Issa was not able to enjoy working under
supervision, and only when he was alone at night, carrying
out his own projects, he could feel his true self in the
bliss of free creativity.
Changing conditions
Issa's contact with the outside world made him more keenly
aware of the social changes at home ,which had been taking
place since mid-seventies ,but only at his return he
discovered the severity of the growing situation. That
caused a despairing apathy began to sink in his soul .
The Free Atelier ,that was planned to be the nucleolus of an
art school, never made the grade, for one after another the
artists practicing there left it . Only Issa remained but
his enthusiasm had died .
The flare that kindled so brightly in the early sixties was
gone ,leaving a dwarfing feeling that cripples genuine
creativity , and the artist stranded in a ocean of
uncertainty, skeptical of the future of art in Kuwait.
Thoroughly disenchanted Issa lost his enthusiasm and the
zest to create .He used to say
"If I produce at all is for self-satisfaction ,to express my
feelings and concern in what is going on here. Art loses its
true purpose when any expression is regarded as taboo or
sinful. This negative atmosphere kills creativity "
In spite of his feeling or because of them Issa continued to
produce works both in sculpture and painting whose forms are
neither vague nor enigmatic, nor stimulus to reveries ,but
actually an articulated expression of his spirit with force
and conviction in the message he was conveying .
He continued working at the Free Atelier which had become
his home ,till he fell ill . for many months he languished
on a hospital bed both in Kuwait and in the USA where he was
sent by the government hoping in his recovery . He died
there in the Spring of 2000 Khalifa Qattan , Abdul Rasoul
Salman and other of his early companion and friends had been
keeping in touch with him till the last days .
In leaving Issa Saqer left a great void in the art movement
of Kuwait . Tragically many of his best works both
sculptures and paintings were destroyed soon after his death
by his elder son for reasons no one knows . However ,in
spite of the act of obliterating his legacy his memory will
live on not only in what remains of his works and in what
has been written about him , or the book Abdul Rasoul Salman,
published of his works entitled , "Issa Saqer ". Recently
the Kuwait government has instituted the ISSA SAQER prize in
the yearly event of the Al Grain art festival. BY
Lidia Al Qattan
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المرحوم "عيسى
صقر".. شريط المشهد التراثي |
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ينمو الماضي
بين انامله كأنه يخلق من جديد، وشيئا فشيئا تتحول الكتلة الجـامدة
إلى حقيقة، والحلم إلى واقع ينبض بالحياة، فيتحرك الماضي بيننا
وكائنه اليوم، وكلما أمعنا النظر إليه تسحبنا خيالاتنا إلى زمن
البساطة.
هذا هو "عيسى صقر" رحمه الله صائغ الزمن الماضي، والباحث عن قيمه
الجمالية في شريط المشهد التراثي.
تتحول كتل الحجـارة أو الخشب أو الطين بين أنامله إلى مساحات
متناغمة من الذكريات الجميلة تتراءى لنا في (البخنق، فتاة البخنق،
لعبة الحيلة، رقصة، الزفا نة، فرحة العودة، ذكريات، الفريسة،
العودة من البحر).
لم تنسلخ أي من مفرداته عن شعوره الجياش بالانتماء إلى ماضي الكويت،
وكلما لامست أنامله أو إزميله كتلة من جماد، يتسرب هذا الشعور
بالحنين إليها، فينبجس من بين ضباب الخيال واقعا بصريا يمتلئ
بالحركة والجـمال، ويبعث في قلوبنا دفئا وحنينا يأخـذنا في لحظة
إلى ماضينا الذي نفتقد بساطته وطيب ساكنيه.
الماضي بكل ما يحويه من موروث تراثي هو محور بحثـه، ونقطة اهتمام
فكره المتوقد، ويتجلى هذا الفكر الابداعي في تلك الكتل النحتية ذات
السطوح الانسيابية والخطوط اللينة التي غالبا ما تندفع مفرداتها
بشموخ نحو فضاء المساحـة بالتفافات متموجة، تبدأ من الأسفل إلى
الأعلى لتؤكد إحساسا بصريا متناميا بالحركة، معززة القيمة الفنية
لصياغاته التلقائية.
فكروفلسـفة الرؤية الابداعيـة تنسجم بشكل متناغم مع تلقـائية
الأداء الفني لديه، ولهذا فهو يتلمس ويبحث في كلى ما يحـيط به من
جماد ومخلوقات، ليصب بعد ذلك خبراته في قوالب من طين أو برونز
أوخشب.
منحوتاته: (الصحراء، ريح السموم، العاصفة، ريح الصحراء، الأرض،
الجفـاف) عناوين تؤكد رؤيته الفكرية الخـاصة نحـو كل ما يحيط به
فـي هذه البيئة الصحراوية، المنسجمة مع ساكنيها وروادها أحـيانا،
والتي في أحيان أخـرى تغضب وتقسو وتظل غيرمستقرة تنفس عن مزاجها
المتقلب ريحا وغبارا وعواصف تقتلع كل ما يصادفها.
لقد عبر "عيسى صقر" عن هذا الواقع غير الملموس بهذه الكتل النحتية
بكثير من الصدق والتلقائية عن بيئته الصحراوية وتشكلت هذه المجموعة
من المنحوتات من طين الأرض التي يتنفس هواءها ويشم رائحـة غبارها،
ويسبح مع ريحـها بصياغة اعتمدت بساطة الفكرة والرمز، وهذه الأسماء
والعناوين التي حملتها أعماله، سواء النحتية منها أو الرسومات،
استوحـاها من مفردات التراث الكويتي القديم، ليؤكد رؤيته الخاصة
التي لازمت فكره وطبيعة معالجاته التشكيلية بصيـغتها الأصلية،
وتعلقه بكل ما ينتمي إلى هذه الأرض. والمجموعة التي شكلت القيمة
الفنية لهذه الظواهر الطبيعية المعبرة عن صحراء الكويت احتوتها
مشاهد رمزية بسيطة الطرح وواضحة المعنى، وتؤكد أسلوبه في التعبير
والتواصل المباشر مع الجمهور، ومن خـلال هذا الطرح التشكيلي البسيط
اجتاز "عيسى" المساحة محدودة الحيز التي تتحرك فيها كتلة النحت
عادة في التعبير البصري عن الفكرة المطروحة لمشروع العمل الفني،
بعكس الفضاء اللا محدود الذي توفره مساحـة القماش في اللوحة. وقد
نجح في تأكيد وجهة نظره وتقديم هذا المشهد الطبيعي بكامل اتساعه
وخصوصيته البيئية والجغرافية ضمن كتلة النحت التي يعمل عليها.
كان للوحـة الزيتية مساحة مهمة في مشواره الفني، وهي لم تبتعد عن
مسار معالجـاته التي وظفها في تشكيل ورسم مفردات البيئة الكويتية
القديمة بدءا بالبحـر ومرورا بالمدينة وحتى أطراف الصحراء
المترامية، وقد عمل جهده في إذابة هذه المشاهد الثلاثة في رؤية
واحدة مترابطة الأجزاء، ومنسجمة في لغتها التعبيرية.
عن كتاب "التراث في الفن
التشكيلي الكويتي" لـ حميد خزعل |
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