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The Arab League Café
by Hani Alqam
Jordanian Artist
The staircase leading up into the coffee shops
in Down Town Amman are well worn. This wear and tear is evident
by the indelible stains left from the constant flow of traffic
of feet over many years. These stains are part of legacy that
is important to the memory of all card players. coffee drinkers
and many others, for we live in a time of change where in
future years it may not be commercially viable to linger for
hours nursing one cup of coffee.
The contrast of murky, bleak staircases to the fluorescent
lit spaces of the coffee room is comforting and somewhat familiar
place. It is familiar as during my adolescence, I would have
seen many of these men walk in and out of these coffee houses.
Sometimes I would take the courage and climb those steps inside
and watch for a moment, quietly absorbing this intimate world
where plain men came together to forget the everyday realities
of life.
In my life I have learnt to appreciate the ordinariness of
life, it is the simplicity and uncomplicated way of life that
helps to hold my integrity working as an artist. The coffee
house holds everything that is true to me of mankind. It’s
a place where there is no room for social pretension. There
is a harsh rawness and at the same time a fragility that leaves
all exposed.
Its worn chairs and tables balance precariously, paint peeling
from the walls, bent ashtrays from years of use and lit pipes
gathering a haze of smoke….
High ceilings, earth y colored walls are the background which
gives a warm glow in juxtaposition with its stark dark wooden
chairs. The tables well scratched and the arranged at random
within the room. Both the chairs and the tables tell a history
in it self.
Groups of men huddled together like a flock of blackbirds
all varying in shape and size. There is an unspoken friendship
as the men play, rarely taking their eyes off the cards. Their
bodies rarely move, almost statuesque. A quiet hum fills the
room which is reassuring as I try to capture the moment of
a bent body or an empty chair which sits forlornly in the
space.
Over the last six years I have spent a few nights a week
painting and drawing in this environment. In a way this café
has become another home for me. I sit afar and observe all
that is there and as in my boyhood the fascination remains,
as I capture the unique moments of the Down town café.
Hani Alqam
2007
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Hani
Alqam - Curriculum Vitae
Born in Amman, Jordan, 1977
2001 Attended a "Graphic Printing" course
by American artist Lynne Allen, The Jordan National
Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman
1999 & 2001 Participated in Darat al Funun's Summer
Academy, supervised by artist Marwan Kassab Bachi.
1994-1996 Diploma in Fine Arts, Center of Fine Arts
Training, Ministry of Culture
Supervisor and trainer at the workshop of the Jordan
National Gallery of Fine Arts, Print Making Studios.
Solo
Exhibitions
2007 Darat al Funun, The Khalid Shoman Foundation, Amman,
Jordan
2006 Zara Gallery, Amman, Jordan
2004 The Gaz Mask, Spanish Cultural Center, Amman, Jordan
2002 Characters, Zara Gallery, Amman, Jordan
Selected Group Exhibitions
2006 Eyes of the Docks, Ireland; Holland; England
2006 Tracks: Artists Working in a Social Context, Ireland
2006 VASL workshop, International Artists, Karachi,
Pakistan
2005 The 8: A Studio Exhibition, Triangle Vermont Studio
Center, Brooklyn, New York
2006 Jordanian Artists Exhibition, Royal Cultural
Center, Amman
2005 Annual Exhibition of Jordanian Artists Association,
Amman
2005 Art and Nature exhibition, Wild Jordan, Amman
2005 Young Jordanian Artists Exhibition, Royal
Cultural Center
2004 Group Exhibition by Arab Artists, Zara Gallery,
Amman
2003 Hues, the
Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts, Amman
2003 Old & New, Group Exhibition by Arab Artists,
Zara Gallery
2002 Encounter: Three Generations of Jordanian Art, 4
Walls Gallery
2002 Amman Cultural Capital Exhibition, Amman City Hall,
Amman
2002 Positive-Negative exhibition, Instituto Cervantes,
Amman
2001 Pensar Con Los Manos, Instituto Cervantes, Amman
2001 Graphic Exhibition, Jordan National Gallery of
Fine Arts, Amman
2001 Don Quixote, Instituto Cervantes, Amman
2000 Summer 2000 Exhibition, Darat Al Funun, Amman
2000 Summer Academy Exhibition, Darat Al Funun, Amman
1999 Poet Lorca, 100th Death Anniversary, Spanish Cultural
Center
1996 Joint exhibition, Orfali Museum, Amman, Jordan
1998-2003 Participated in several group exhibitions
held by the Jordanian Plastic Artists Association
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