[Note: Most pictures lead to the vendors' website/Instagram/Twitter] Check out the Bab Market review for first impressions and vendors from the first weekend.
Hi.
I've missed you.
While it's too late to promote the vendors who were at Bab Al Bahrain for the second weekend (considering, you know, the weekend's over), we still wanted to post about them because we saw some businesses we really really liked. Plus it wouldn't be fair to skip them.
Before we get into the vendors, I wanted to talk about updates on the actual venue itself. In our previous post, we mentioned that one negative aspect about the organization was that the "Ask Me" volunteers (which we thought was a great idea) were always huddled together in groups socializing at opposite ends of the market, making them intimidating to approach and difficult to find (even though, when you did approach them, they were all quite helpful). ALAS, NO MORE. Seriously though, we noticed that during the second weekend the volunteers were more spread out and more easily accessible. HURRAY. They're nice.
Also, the information booth they had at the front with the big map of information (which I totally didn't notice last week) HAS BEEN MOVED to become sort of the beginning of the market, instead of being so far ahead, which is a fantastic idea, considering I actually noticed it this time. It's a pretty cool big map with all the information about which vendors will be there every week + the workshop dates.
Also at the beginning of the market is this structure of recycled pans that make funky musical instruments (it was there last week too). It's cool and everything, it's just that we realized how annoying it gets when people are incessantly banging on it. I can't imagine how the vendors next to it must feel. Still, it's not like you can ban people from using it, as it would kill the point. So... yeah...
Finally, the musical center of the market (literally, it's in the middle) is something that we realized causes a LOT of congestion in the middle of the place. A lot. You have to squeeze through the crowd to get to see the second half of the market. Personally, I think it would be great if the musical act was at the end of the market, which would encourage people to actually walk all the way to the end and see all the vendors in the meantime. My friend noted that the musical act should stay in the middle since it's better for the music to be heard loudly on both sides? I don't know, perhaps. So I could see arguments for both my suggestion and the status quo.
Now, TO THE VENDORS. Here are the notable new stalls we got to see:
Less Is More
This stall featured a collection of minimalist art by Maryam Toorani, and we absolutely fell in love with it all. Even though it all seems simple enough ('cause, you know, minimalism), the art really expresses all it has to express. It was also good that there was a variability in the subject matter, she had a few fashion-inspired pieces, some quotes, and some Bahrain-inspired art.
She is open to orders and special requests, I made a few already. They're a steal with the most expensive piece I've seen at 15BD, so make your orders before she realizes she could do with raising the prices!
Nazli's Bookshelf
This isn't actually a shop, but the vendor is Nazli Tawfeeqi, a Bahraini who recently published her own book titled "My Foggy Tomorrow," which is described as a fictional contemporary story about a Bahraini housewife in New York City. I haven't read the book yet, so I can't say much about the product itself except that I'm personally peeved at the choice of New York City as a setting, just because I feel like the hype of the city is overwhelming lately. I can also say that I was worried about how she would present the stall, but she actually decorated the stall beautifully, so it really did look like a quaint bookshelf rather than a boring stall at a market.
Maggi Glass
We actually didn't get a chance to talk to the vendor and now I'm sad because the work is quite beautiful. It is essentially glass art, something we don't see too often.
Rainbow In A Jar
This is basically rainbow cake in a jar. The tiny jars are adorable. I got to try one, and the vendor offers cream on the top or toppings like sprinkles or marshmallows, which is cool. As for the cake itself, I didn't ask but it tastes like Betty Crocker, so I can't say that it's baked from scratch. Maybe that isn't the point though, maybe the point is that the cake looks like a rainbow in a jar. So the cake won't blow your mind, but I wouldn't complain if I got to get a jar of perfectly good cake, especially since the tiny jars make you feel like you're somehow making a healthy decision.
T-Shirt-T
This vendor features t-shirts (and prints I think) designed to showcase Bahraini (or generally Arab) pop culture, not unlike Day 'N' Age and some of the collections at The TShirt Shop, so it's difficult to see the novelty in it since I personally don't enjoy the theme of Arab pop-culture attire. Still, I believe the owner is an art and interior design graduate who adds her artistic twist to the pieces, so to those who enjoy the humor in this type of design, I think T-Shirt-T offers a good variety of pop-culture references to enjoy.
Maryam's Artwork
The artwork is beautiful. I really don't know what else to say, the artist uses many different paint techniques and a beautiful rendering of colors. Each piece is priced so affordably, I don't think there was a piece that surpassed BD50, which is mind-blowing considering there was an art exhibit recently displaying an artist's pieces priced around BD5K that we personally feel don't even come close to this work.
Lave Affair
This stall features homemade soaps. Seriously, we're so surprised by the different passions that exist in Bahrain. We never even considered making soap! The vendor boasts different nature-based scents that can make you and your room smell nice.
Capturing The Light
This vendor is photographer Hasan Al Khunaizi who had some of his best work on display. We like them, especially the one with the bike (the one that isn't in black and white) and the one at the beach. Unfortunately, the picture of the chair can only make me think of this. Still, he has good photographs, and we look forward to seeing him play with different styles and techniques.
Haraka
Haraka is a brand that features various different types of accessories like watches and bags, in addition to t-shirts. It's a vendor that promises unique twists to ordinary accessories. They happen to have a watch that looks EXACTLY like one I bought from the Qatar airport last year, the same in every single aspect except the logo inside. Also, we personally aren't thrilled about the fact that the brand image/logo is the moustache, it feels overused and considering the fact that there actually are a lot of funky products designed by the owner, we feel a more creative logo could have been created. Still, I do like the colorful watches.
Sarah's Life Accessories
This is another jewelry stall, but the owner did note that she personally designed some of the jewelry (the ones in the photo are her designs), and I think that's cool. What's really nice about the stall though is that it also features a brand called Valiyana, which sells jars of olives in homemade... brine? I don't know but the liquid in the jar is apparently a special concoction that the vendor created. The real kicker about the olives is that half of the cost goes to the Bahrain Cancer Society, so that's pretty cool. I bought a jar for my grandma's house so they can love me more and stuff.
Ulafa'a
So Ulafa'a is an initiative aimed at spreading love and positivity in Bahrain through art. At first, we didn't think much of it, since we have a lot of initiatives in Bahrain that have a beautifully vague and generic objective with no real result, especially through art, because we also have a lot of art-based groups in Bahrain. But no. I like them. After various encounters with Ulafa'a (they were at Market 338), we found that they genuinely go out of their way to create campaigns aimed at just making people happier. At the Bab Market itself, they would hand out little cards to people who smiled at them that read something like "I just wanted to tell you that your smile is wonderful, and you should smile more often." AWWW RIGHT? Apparently they also randomly posted some happy notes on people's cars. This is all in addition to their usual "Free Hugs" sign and "Free High-5" for those who are a bit iffy about hugs. But if you're iffy about hugs, you probably just need a hug.
They also featured June designs, one of their members who (according to her Instagram) designs pretty maxi skirts. To fund these positivity campaigns, they sell artsy bookmarks, postcards, etc.
N Design
Now this is art. I was so in love with the piece in the photo above and I'm SO SAD it's gone, since every piece is one-of-a-kind. N Designs features designs by artist Noof Al Refaei, all of which were created using recycled material or furniture she built herself (there was a coffee table she made), and really I think the work is so good. Recycling to create art is not a new idea, but her work makes it seem like the furniture was always meant to be that way. I'll definitely call her when I'm remodeling my own home.
Sugar Station
omnom. Sugar Station features a variety of yummy desserts, including chocolate chip cookies, oreo cookie cups, Nutella peanut butter cups, and different types of cheesecake cups. I tried their chocolate chip cookie, and I loved that it was soft and chewy. I did find it a little on the sweet side, I personally prefer my desserts to be extra sweet, but I can see how some people may have two cookies instead of five because of the sweetness. I also tried their oreo cookie cups (pictured above), and it was like eating an oreo but with more cookie, so it wasn't soft/chewy in any way, and I prefer the chocolate chip cookies, but it was nice nonetheless. I like Sugar Station, it all looks delicious and they even had Shirley Temples and juice.
HomeBakes
We already talked about HomeBakes in the previous post about Al Basta Market so get the details there. But what was new during this past weekend's market is the jars of pistachio-coated dates. I also bought a jar of those for my family so that they love me more. Olives and pistachio dates, what more do they want?
It's tough to choose a top three, but here they are:
1- Less Is More: Because minimalist Bahrain-inspired art!
2- N Designs: The colorful chess set coffee-table bookcase alone sealed the deal.
3- Ulafa'a: They make an effort to genuinely make people smile. This is nice.
All in all a fantastic group of vendors, it makes me really excited to check out next weekend's stalls.
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