Bahrain’s artistic community is thriving, with debuts of new work by up-and-coming writers, painters and musicians happening monthly. Credit is partly due to the growing number of inspiring “habitats” available to creative types. Here are their top four:
1. The view from the Bahrain Fort and Museum has long captivated humans, perched as it is on a UNESCO world heritage site dating back over 4,000 years. Now this towering overlook of the Karbabad Beach also boasts a delightful café with indoor and outdoor seating that regularly hosts art openings and serves as an unofficial second home for artists’ brainstorming sessions.
2. Located in Budaiya, Words Bookstore & Café is Bahrain’s one and only bookstore café. Lovely and quiet, it is frequented by writers who prize its great tea and intellectual atmosphere as well as the company of fellow writers working out a new chapter or poem one table over.
3. Though Al-Bareh Gallery in Adliya is renowned for its cutting-edge exhibitions, it also shelters an exquisitely traditional Arab courtyard, surrounded of course by high, rustling trees. Step into this timeless corner to glimpse established and rising artists getting a refill of tranquility.
4. The new café at Bahrain’s National Museum puts you as close as you can get to the sea without diving into it. Early birds and night owls alike enjoy feasting their eyes on its reflections, absorbed against the museum’s strikingly modern backdrop.
