Sri Lankan born abstract artist, Mueen Saheed who was recently commissioned by the Darwin Ocean Climax Festival in Bordeaux France won the praise of many for his painting depicting the deteriorating state of the world’s ocean. This painting which was also signed by the Mayor of Bordeaux Alain Juppe is currently displayed at the French museum in Bordeaux.
“The painting I did was called ‘two oceans’, one ocean represents the current situation where chemicals, oil spills, trash and plastic dumping is causing pollution, the other illustrates an ocean that pure, clean and clear which can be used by generations to come, an ocean where man and marine ecosystem coexist,” said Saheed explaining the painting.
Mueen Saheed was invited as an honorary guest to the conclave which saw politicians, activities, environmentalists and scientists come together for a 4-day festival which hosted conferences, debates, art walks and concerts. The Climax Festival is a mass movement meant to create awareness on the state of the world’s ocean and how a collective movement can amass joint actions, regardless of the countries the representatives are from.
“It was an honour to paint the two Oceans for the prestigious Climax Festival. I have also collaborated with the organizers for a few more paintings. I delivered a brief speech on my work and in particular this painting, which was later used as a backdrop to the main conference,” Mueen said. “It’s a privilege to now have this painting displayed at their museum for all to see.”
The Darwin Ocean Festival is organized by the Surfrider Foundation Europe. During the 4-day event, the Bordeaux military wasteland is converted into a tourist and cultural hotspot with concerts, conferences, art walks and exhibitions.
Thilak Ranaviraj, the Sri Lankan Ambassador to France also paid a visit to the Festival where he met with artist Mueen Saheed and congratulated him on the job well done. Elaborating more on his work, Mueen said that he found art to be an easy common ground for people to converge and speak on. “A work of art makes it easy for people to open up and communicate,” he said. “When it’s abstract, each person’s interpretation is different and hence respect for each other’s opinion, regardless of how outlandish it may seem.”
Mueen Saheed is a Colombo based Jewelry Designer, Sculptor and Abstract Artist. Mueen has been designing Jewelry for over three decades and is the recipient of the prestigious Jewelers of America Jewel Award in 1996 and the Golden Apple Award for Innovation in 2002 USA. As an artist Mueen was commissioned by world leaders and prominent personalities like The King of Brunei, The Prime Minister of Malaysia and the former President of Sri Lanka to do a painting on their visions. Mueen also does a lot of work relating to social awareness including a painting and advocacy work done for Gender Based Violence issues (which he was invited to speak about at the UNFPA Colombo and at the Red Ribbon Forum in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia). His art is a mixture of narrative and expressionism where he weaves stories into all his artworks, as can be seen on the doors he painted for a hotel in UNESCO world heritage Galle drawing in the rich colonial history of the city. The doors have since become an urban icon in Galle.