---

​Cultural Village Foundation – Katara presents "Connected" A solo exhibition By Shahida Ahmed. "When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy". Rumi Connected; this exhibition is mainly inspired by studies of the whirling dervish as a subject. Black and white and simple colours are used in the collection showing simplicity in the subject Shahida is an award-winning British artist, multi-media artist who explores and celebrates a broad spectrum of history, cultures and diversity in her work. Her inspirations are exploring traditional Islamic concepts and influences a modern interpretation and then sharing the results with a new audience. Rhythm and movement play an important part in her sculptures, paintings and installations, as do shapes, geometry and calligraphy. She works have found inspiration in the poetry of Rumi, Islamic architecture and signature symbols of Arabic culture, such as the whirling dervish, although her ideas are constantly evolving. Over time, Shahida has come to believe that art is about meaning, as much as it is about beauty. This collection is inspired by her travels and poetry by Rumi it explores and underpins simplicity in colour and subject. O’keeffe looks at the flower as a subject, she shares this to captivate the object. A subject is seen through the eyes of the viewer and shared with the audience who complete it. Shahida recently decided to change the signature on her art to the simple and anonymous pronoun ‘She’, to denote, she says, “a woman, no faith, colour or culture”, whose art was there to be freely interpreted by all. Shahida Ahmed​