RIYADH: Realism, cubism, and abstraction are among the many different labels assigned to painters to describe their artistic form of expression. But in Madinah, the Talaqi art exhibition aims to bridge the gap between artistic movements while showcasing local Saudi talents. The second edition of the event, recently launched at Madinah Art Center, features the works of 16 Saudi artists, eight of whom are publicly exhibiting for the first time. Each edition of the exhibition features a non-repetitive concept from a new set of artists. Artist Mubarak Khaled and Amal Shahan showcase their work for the first time in front of an audience during Talaqi 2. (Supplied) Co-founder of Talaqi and the Thalothya arts project, Manar Ghazzawi, told Arab News: “We are excited to announce that after the success we’ve seen with the previous two editions, from the third onwards each exhibit will feature a single concept expressed uniquely by each participating painter.” Ghazzawi was among those displaying at Talaqi’s second edition. She described her artwork as a tale of a long-term state of isolation evident in herself in the past and present as two separate people — both comforting the other. She said: “An embodiment of my being one of the people who tend to isolate, in addition to the fact that all the details in the painting have psychological connotations.” To prevent the meaning of artwork being lost in translation, Talaqi has affiliated with Thalothya, which hosts intellectual discussions and trends in modern and contemporary art discourse. Co-founder Manar Ghazzawi presented her work at Talaqi 2. (Supplied) Co-founder Meshal Al-Hujaili, said: “Thalothya is an art community based in Madinah that promotes a culture of interpretive dialogue that transcends our own preconceived notions and limitations.” Al-Hujaili said Thalothya was the result of a seven-year journey that he and Ghazzawi had partaken in. “We did exhibitions … went to experienced artists and hosted them to ask them for their opinions and constructive criticism of what we produced,” Ghazzawi added. “Throughout our experimentation phase, we learned to filter the good and bad in order to elevate the engagement level of artists from the community within the city itself,” Al-Hujaili added. Artist Mubarak Khaled and Amal Shahan showcase their work for the first time in front of an audience during Talaqi 2. (Supplied) The co-founders identified a lack of dialogue-centric local art communities in Madinah. Al-Hujaili said: “Most art communities available that we noticed have people come into a space and paint or create artwork each on their own canvas. “So, we’ve created Thalothya to normalize intellectual, dialogue-setting gatherings in the Kingdom and endorse it in the Saudi art culture. “I would love to see throughout the Kingdom Thalothya as a blueprint community in every city.”