The Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities is celebrated by the late plastic artist Rashid Al -Arifi through the “Rashid Al -Arifi Museum: the legacy of Khaled’s art”, which is held in its museum in the city of Muharraq during the period from 8 to 11 October 2025 from four in the evening until eight in the evening. This event comes within the framework of the efforts of the committee continuing to preserve and support the artistic and cultural movement in the Kingdom, and highlight the achievements that formed part of the national and creative memory.
This open house represents a space for meditation on Al -Arifi’s artistic career, where the pillars of the museum are distributed among its paintings, sculptures and works that mimic the Dilmun civilization and invoke its symbols and composition. The visitor moves between spaces in which the artist embodied his aesthetic vision, combining the originality of heritage and the innovation of contemporary.
This event is not a final conclusion of the Al -Arifi Museum’s march, but rather the beginning of a new stage, as the Culture Authority will host a selection of his works that his family gave in appreciation of his artistic heritage. These holdings will be displayed in the Bahrain National Museum, and include paintings, sculptures, documents, pieces of furniture and personal purposes, attesting to the depth of his experience and the diversity of his cultural giving.
The authority expressed its great appreciation for the initiative and confidence of the family of the late artist, stressing that this rare group represents a valuable addition to the holdings of the National Museum, and a pivotal step towards preserving the Bahraini plastic heritage and documenting it for future generations.
Since his beginnings, Al -Arifi contributed to the establishment of the modern artistic movement in Bahrain, by joining the family of art amateurs in 1963, and his first personal exhibition in 1967 in the Arab Al -Arabism Club, in addition to his role in establishing the Bahrain Association for Contemporary Art. He was known for his distinguished Dilmouni style in which he combined expressive symbols, seals, stones and ceramics, so he turned the painting and sculpture into an extension of the memory of civilization.
At Ata Al -Arifi was not limited to visual art, but rather wrote books documenting the physical culture and the Bahraini folklore, including: “Bahraini Arts” in 1970, in addition to other literature, including “Bahraini architecture”, “folk games”, “Bahraini heritage chain” and “Dilmouni Horizons”.
Al -Arifi devoted more than five decades in the service of art and culture, and he received several prominent honors, the most prominent of which is the Medal of First Efficiency in 2007 from His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the king of the country, may God protect and preserve him, the State Appreciation and Encouragement Award in 1989, the Gulf Pioneers Award in 1994, and the Order of Arab Historians.
