About the Festival
The Spring of Culture Festival is back with a wide range of events and activities that will pique the interests of our varied audience, celebrating this season of fun and joy. This edition of the festival offers numerous events hosted by cultural institutions, historical sites, and urban landmarks in the Kingdom of Bahrain, extending the bridges of cultural communication with the world.
The edition comes under the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities’ slogan for the year 2022 “Golden Jubilee.” The festival kicks off, as every year, on February 25, coinciding with the Arab Tourism Day, which was adopted when Manama was declared the Capital of Arab Tourism for 2013, coinciding with the birthday of the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta. The Bahrain National Theatre celebrates Arab Tourism Day with a contemporary performance called “Akhenaten.. Dust of Light” choreographed and directed by Walid
Aouni. The tale of an ancient pharaoh, Akhenaten is depicted through contemporary dances and theatrical scenes taking audiences on a journey 3000 years into history.
The site will also host a concert by the artist Omar Kamal, after the great success he achieved in his first album, Serenade, presenting the audience with an assortment
of the most beautiful and timeless Arabic and international songs.In its Kingdom of Bahrain debut, the Philharmonia Orchestra from the United Kingdom comes to the stage of the Bahrain National Theatre showcasing timeless pieces that will charm classical music lovers. While the National Theatre concludes its activities for the month of March with the “Manama Mon Amour” concert, which brings together two of the most famous pianists in the world, Richard Clayderman and Zaid Dirani, accompanied by the tunes of the Bahrain Music Band.
This season of the Spring of Culture inaugurates its premier event at the state of the art Al Dana Amphitheatre, with the famed singer Hussain Al Jassmi who will ignites the evening with his greatest hits!
The 16th edition of the Spring of Culture Festival boasts an array of local art exhibitions, starting with “Women Between Reality & Fantasy” by artist Ebrahim Khalifa at the Art Centre, engaging all the senses in his illustrations of women through his paintings that use soft and hard materials. Also, the Art Centre hosts a solo exhibition by artist Rashed Al Araifi, “Visual Memoirs: Between Figuration and Abstraction”, in recognition of winning 2nd place at the Bahrain Annual Fine Art Exhibition in 2020. It is a body of work which acts as a visual response to the urban behavior, social practices, and cultural customs in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The Art Centre continues to support talented artistic energies this season by hosting the exhibition “Omnificent” for students of Shaikha Hessa Girls School
in the International Baccalaureate Diploma in Visual Arts Program for the year 2022, displaying selected artworks from the 2020 and 2021 Visual Arts Program.
Al Hidaya Al Khalifiyah School presents “A Hundred Years Later.. Celebrating the Foundation of Annadi Al Adabi” exhibition highlighting how the foundation served
as the first incubator for literary and cultural activity in Bahrain at the beginning of the last century. At the Memory of a Place – Bin Matar House, the drawing
and installation artworks of artist Faika Al Hassan entitled “Protection” explore the traditional use of frankincense in Bahraini homes and families. Al Riwaq
Art Space returns to enrich this season of the festival through an exhibition entitled “Post-Fiction: Manama”, which sheds light on the space in which shared narratives, personal perceptions and the prevailing history of Manama according to the visions of five artists.
The Cultural Hall welcomes a series of shows from all over the world, held in cooperation with the brotherly and friendly embassies of nations in the Kingdom
of Bahrain. The Great Arias of Opera performance by the Italian Teatro Massimo takes audiences on a timeless journey through their tendentious of widely
celebrated works. Audiences will learn about the culture of Pakistan through the Qawwali Night which presents a form of Sufi music, a moving musical
arrangement accompanied by Urdu poetry.