Baachy/Dhona @ NAG + Op-ed

Lots of things have happened. Personally, I wrote a hit piece on Iphpha and decided not to upload it, which then sent me into a spiral that stopped me from writing. This is after I boldly proclaimed that this blog is not for anyone besides myself. 

But here I am again. Trying to mark what I think is important. 

UPDATE 

Since my last post: The fall of MAC happened. Shimha, Yaani, Baachy had their solos at NAG (2024). Zuha Bari had her solo exhibition in some place near Lavista (2024). Some group exhibition at the same place as Zuha Bari (2024). G350 moved next to Meraki and we saw Samah and the return of Mary Omar (2025). Art Gallery Male' had some Japanese exhibition (2024) and the solo of some Monica? (2025). 

You can find the timeline (with pictures), from Angel Shuja out at Dhauru, who, I am glad keeps the timeline going for us. Her no-personality-objective-voice is perfect to put everyone on the same pedestal. It gives us a report and timeline of the art exhibited. You can also find her attempts at a personality on Maldives Independent. Korali Collective (I thought dead) wrote something about the group exhibition.

SO... 

As I write this, Dhona just wrapped up her first solo exhibition in Maldives followed by Baachy, having his yearly exhibition. 

 PART 1 of 2: THE EXHIBITIONS

ALI - DHONA SOLO EXHIBITION AT NATIONAL GALLERY (21 - 26TH JUNE 2025)

Ali (not Alee) means "light" in Dhivehi. The title, although vague, intrigued me. It's the first time a new media visual artist was having a solo exhibition and the possibility that the exhibition and artist was tackling 'light' as a medium truly excited me. 

I did some digging on her instagram and website and found out her name is Aminath Sultana. I heard through the grapevines that she was in exile in the UK and came back recently. I heard that she was one of the first people who brought lasers down and did mapping in Maldives? What I do know for a fact is that she has a very impressive portfolio. 

She has shown her work as a visual artist, making installations, 3D projections and laser mapping, all over UK (and the world) - from installations for the Somerset House, to installations on the gallery forefront and pavement of HOFA. She has made collaborative works and has worked as a consultant, technician, creative director, created concepts and done projection mapping, audio reactive visuals and live audio visual programming with various artists, musicians and venues. She has done projection mapping for commercial projects, music videos, pop-ups and music festivals. Fuck yeah! 

The instagram posts from Dhona and NCA stated that it was a  public opening and I went right on time. But as usual, we had to wait around for the chief guest. Unusually, I didn't see any printed billboards with the title of the show at the entrance of NAG. I also noticed that very few people showed up to the opening. I expected there to be more than usual, just because it looked cool on instagram, but there were like 20 people?  No Afu? No Baachy? No young inspiring UV artists? Hm. Strange. 

Someone called everyone standing outside to come in. "It's about to start", she said. No waiting for some minister? No grand opening speech and thank you note to the government? Fuck yeah! 

The gallery had no lights on and was filled with fog. The only light was from the projection onto the sets of benches you see when you walk in the door. I tried looking for an exhibition text or artist statement and as I moved toward the benches I saw the projection of the word  "އަލި" on it. It was projected onto what look like three translucent mesh screens, which created this really cool drop shadow-y 3D effect. 

Ambient music slowly rose as the title faded away into particles. The light shining through the fog dissolved the gallery into a dreamy state. The word diffused into particles, then turned into lines and then shifted and turned into 3D polygenic shapes that resembled sometimes skeletal structures, sometimes wings - morphing and dancing, in almost biological rhythms, to the music being played. I was trying to figure out if she was controlling the music and/or the projections. The projection ends with the dancing shapes fading into her name in all caps. D H O N A. 

My knee jerk reaction was "the fuck? wait, it's over?". It felt short. I didn't know what I saw. What were those shapes? What was she trying to say? Was that her take on "light"? Is that it? Am I missing something? I desperately tried looking for an exhibition or something to rationalise it all, but I couldn't find any. 

I looked around to see if there were any other artworks, maybe an installation? The right side of the gallery was pitch black and the left side of the gallery had beams of laser lights, bouncing off on the floor and on to the wall. I moved closer to see a beam of refracted light, reflected off small mirrors placed on top of the panel and the parallel floor, leading one beam of light through the entire space. The laser felt three dimensional when passed through all the fog. Like everyone else with a soul, I also grasped at the fog wanting to touch the spectre of this cubed ray of light and it made me feel like a joyous child. 

I tried figuring out what the point of the light beam installation was and concluded that it did a much better job of tackling the subject than the projection did. And yet, it was extremely mediocre. I heard a patron whisper the classic "a child could have done this" as I walked out, feeling confused, frustrated and severely disappointed. 

MAKKAH THE ART EXHIBITION BY BAACHY @ NAG (4 - 18TH JULY 2025)

The main sponsor of the exhibition this time is the Saudi Embassy...  

...Jesus Christ.

As I entered the gallery, I heard the sound of birds. On the right are two printed foam boards, with what goes for an artist profile and exhibition text around here. 

The artist profile is nothing new, the same old Baachy text. The exhibition text next to it stated that this was a "landmark" exhibition devoted "entirely to the spiritual and visual presence of the Kaaba..." More importantly, the text exclaims that these works were of Baachy's "signature style" of "textured abstraction and layered symbolism revealed when viewed from a distance."

Hm. 

The first painting I see is an aerial view of the Kaaba in gold, with squiggly lines all over - which I suppose represents humans surrounding it. It immediately reminded me of the ‘fingerprint-Kaaba’ painting from his previous “100” exhibition. It was the only painting in that exhibition that had nothing to do with the clocks and it was also the artwork most were drawn towards. So you are telling me it is a coincidence, that this exhibition is based off of that one painting that most people were drawn towards in his previous exhibition? Ok. Cool. 

There were two paintings that were straight up sketches and did not belong in the exhibition - the one of the entrance to Saudi (Makkah Gate) and another that seem like a historic depiction of people in front of the Kaaba. The majority of the paintings were stark black, white and gold. Classic and unimaginative. 

Half the paintings were of the Kaaba from different angles, some from exceptional perspectives with the Great Mosque and pilgrims in the background or foreground. These paintings were the most obvious use of projection (or tracing or copying) of a photoshop image I have ever seen in my life. I could literally tell which effects, in particular the photoshop threshold effect and the extent that it was used. I also spotted the places in the paintings where Baachy attempted to fill in areas without referential assistance and it stuck out like a nun at a mosque. I wish I was exaggerating. 

The other notable paintings were ones where he squiggled curvy lines, mimicking shapes of the thousands of pilgrims surrounding the Kaaba. This is where Baachy got the viewers on a chokehold - he did say step back for the full picture in his exhibition text. And as with the photoshop paintings, these too get better and better the more you step away. And yet, no matter how far behind I go or how many times I half close my eyes, the "pilgrims" towards the edges were morphed and warped. 

One would assume that when a person tackles such a spiritual subject or theme, they would do it with some intention. But, I argue that even if there was an ounce of intention, the details on the gold of the Kaaba, would not have turned out the way it did.  One would assume that while depicting those at a spiritual peak, from the same Ummah, he would connect both emotionally and spiritually. But, when asked if he felt this connection or fell into a trance during the process, he replied saying he felt that way during the opening of his exhibition, I suppose when he was surrounded by superficial praise and the possibility of making money from these works. 

This exhibition is religion for sale. The price ranges from MVR12,000 to MVR35,000. Pretty cheap if you ask me. No one seems to buy it though. 

As I was walking out, I saw the host and the whole crew from the 'Unified' podcast (the Salafist youth podcast on DhaarisTV) taking selfies with the artwork with the printed tarpaulin of the Kiswa (the clothing of the Kaaba) stapled onto a canvas with horribly drawn bricks. 

All this must be some sort of haram, right? 

PART 2 of 2: OP-ED: WHY WE ARE, WHERE WE ARE

After visiting both exhibitions, almost consecutively, I have come to realise that it doesn't matter if you are an internationally recognised Maldivian-artist with pages of accolades, or if you are Baachy. There are similarities in thought, intention and outcome when exhibiting in the Maldives, specifically at the NAG. 

This was Dhona's first solo exhibition at the NAG and it was the biggest let-down yet. Not only were the actual artworks subpar, the presentation was non-existent. I am not asking for the tarpaulin boards with the title plastered at the corner of the NAG, but put the title somewhere? All the lights of the gallery were off and I guarantee you passerbys would have assumed the gallery was closed. There was also no artist profile. In all honesty, Dhona's artist profile was the only one I looked forward to reading, it would have been more inspiring for me (and the young Maldivian UV artists) than all of the MAC artists' profiles combined.  

When I asked an artist friend about Dhona's ten minute projection, he said it looked like a loading screen. I couldn't have said it better myself. The visuals did not say anything; no subject, no theme, no story - nothing. In the end, I just felt like I was waiting for something to happen and nothing happened.

Was the medium new in Male'? Sure. Was it nice to look at? Sure. Was it pretty? I guess. The lasers were cool to look at and play around with? Sure. 

But truthfully, the whole exhibition felt like a ruse to showcase her skills, get some media attention and hopefully land some gigs to do lighting and projections for events. That's it. 

In contrast - Baachy's exhibition, as usual, was all about the presentation. The huge title boards at the corner of NAG, the ambient bird noises, the foam boards with the artist profile and exhibition text, directing you on how exactly you should look at the art. 

This is Baachy's fifth solo exhibition at the NAG and looks to be an important one. I claim it to be so because the majority of patrons I spoke to kept saying it might be his best exhibition while being the most blatant copying/tracing/projecting of photoshopped images on canvases I have ever seen. 

It was not a new medium, not an original theme/subject, no new techniques, no original perspectives, views or ideas. Nothing cool to look at.

So why does Baachy put religion up for sale and get away with it? Why did Dhona decide to show works at the National Art Gallery, that I argue, she would not be caught dead showing anyone else in the world? 

Their CVs, mediums, presentation, and the circles they run with might be on two ends of the spectrum, but they both understand; who their audience is, how they will react and what they have to gain from it. 

Dhona and Baachy both know that general maldivian art enthusiasts have very limited knowledge and exposure. They know exactly how extremely low the bar is - cus’ they are the ones who set it. They know that there is rarely any deep engagement or critical viewing of art. Most importantly, they know that no one is going to call them out on their bare minimum effort. 

They know it all and fully exploit it. Dhona knew that whatever she did people would eat it up. Baachy knows that no one will say anything against the Kaaba. So they put no actual time or effort, no artistic intention and they still get all the media exposure and validation that they want. 

These two exhibitions have been a turning point for me. I finally feel like I know why we are, where we are. It is the first time I realise that the full responsibility is not with the empty vessels at NCA and NAG. Half of the responsibility, if not all of it, is on the artists. Maldivian artists across the spectrum clearly feel no responsibility for their peers, aspiring artists or the broader community that see their work. They seem to have no real aspirations themselves. They are selfish, shallow and soulless enough that all they care about is getting media exposure, adding "National Gallery" to their CVs and hopefully getting some money/gigs/commissions while they are at it. I finally know the embarrassing fact, that Maldivian artists have so little self respect that they really don't mind putting up absolute garbage at the National Gallery of their own country. 

And until our artists find themselves a soul, or the masses wake up to the shit stained walls of the NAG and say something, I'm afraid nothing is going to change.