COMMON THREAD: Venezuelan artist Johnatan Machado working on one of the pieces that will be up at the exhibition.

By Anand Holla

For Venezuelan artist Johnatan Machado Tepper, his immediate environment is his personal creativity-tracker. The finest patterns and colours that he sees around implores him to create art that blends the old with the new until they reach a harmonious consistency.
In Doha, the most recurring Qatari motif that has caught Machado’s eye and imagination has been the traditional Qatari Sedu. The Bedouin weaving is the ubiquitous hand-woven cloth that can be seen in a variety of covers, carpets, majlis settings, tents and horse and camel equipment. For his upcoming exhibition titled Contemporary Traditional – it opens at Building 5, Katara Art Centre, at 7 pm on Thursday, and is on till January 5 – Machado has explored his fascination with Sedu to interesting results. Excerpts from a chat with Machado:
 
You say this exhibition draws from your experience of living in Qatar. What sort of interesting visuals and patterns have you seen in Qatar that has inspired your new works?
Whoever visits Qatar has been able to see how very conservative Qataris are in terms of tradition and culture in spite of all the modernity that surrounds us. One of these traditions is keeping their craftsmanship alive. Sedu is the traditional fabric that Bedouins generally use to decorate the insides of their tents and furniture. Sedu is a material that takes us to a very specific place and culture, one that still exists in our times. This fabric represents how Qataris respect and honour their traditions. It is very important for me to observe my surroundings on a daily basis and then interpret it through my artistic work. For me, the patterns and colours I saw in these fabrics are an opportunity to use my weaving technique and express the interpretation I make of my surroundings.
 
Is there a reason why your exhibition inspired by Qatari motifs, opens on Thursday, a day before the Qatar National Day?
I have been living in Qatar for more than a year now and my first full-flavoured experience of this place was the National Day. I remember the impression that all the activities happening on that day had on me. From that moment on, I decided to do something to be part of this celebration. Discovering Sedu made me think that I could commemorate the Qatari culture through my own vision.  Contemporary Traditional is the result of this and I hope that visitors from all over will enjoy it.
  
How challenging has it been for you to acquire Sedu or other traditional materials for your work?
As the concept of this work is to deconstruct a Bedouin tent and turn it into a piece of art, you can imagine that these materials won’t be found in an art shop. I had to go to several places to procure everything I needed. It wasn’t easy in the beginning. I started working with a limited amount of colours. Step by step, asking fellow artists and other people that work with fabrics, I started to discover certain places that helped me get where I wanted. Creativity started to mount. With more fabrics, the possibilities of developing more complex pieces also expanded. As for the wood, it was more of an accident. I discovered a marketplace where it is sold, but it wasn’t easy. You can’t go online to search for these types of materials; you need to interact with people, create a relationship, and then ask. This, of course, has allowed me to communicate with and understand the idiosyncrasies of the people of Doha.  It has expanded my work to a field in which social matters are of utmost importance.
 
How many days and hours have you spent creating these new works? What was the most difficult part of creating them?
It has taken me three months to create 12 pieces.  I have been working on these pieces since August, so as to get them ready for this exhibition. There are many challenges to overcome and finish each piece. You need to cut each line very carefully, build the frames, and then weave; this process can take a lot of time. Sedu is a fabric that’s not meant to be cut in strips. Therefore, I need to plan each step very carefully so that it doesn’t fray. Each thread is very important. I truly can’t say how hard it is, because each step to the last one is very delicate. This work is very different from what I am used to doing with canvas.
 
What is your favourite place in Qatar which helps you get fresh ideas?
That, without a doubt, has to be Souq Waqif. Besides being able to find some of the traditional fabrics and cords, you can get a sense of how life was in the past, which is perfect for the work I am doing. In the Souq, there is a feeling of time being on hold, and for some hours, it is possible to relive a very traditional past within a very modern city. And this is why the exhibition is called Contemporary Traditional. It summarises what Qatar means to me.