MUHARRAQ, Bahrain, April 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Concordia, a monumental stained-glass installation by internationally celebrated artist Sir Brian Clarke, was unveiled at Bahrain International Airport by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, earlier today Thursday 10 April 2025. Spanning 34 meters in width and 17 meters in height, it is one of the largest stained-glass installations in the world.
Concordia integrates multiple cultural influences into its design, creating a harmonious fusion of styles that reflect Bahrain's role as a meeting point between East and West. The piece blends the mathematical precision of traditional Islamic geometric patterns with natural elements symbolic of Bahrain's landscape such as jasmine flowers, dragonflies, and hawks. Additionally, the work draws from Western artistic traditions referencing medieval European tapestries and illuminated manuscripts from the Books of Hours.
The creation of Concordia required meticulous craftsmanship and a dedicated team. The glass was handblown in Germany by a team of 5 people, along with at least 5 assistants, over a period of 40 days. This meticulous process ensured the glass met the exacting standards necessary for the piece's intricate design. The installation, which took place at Bahrain International Airport was an engineering feat that spanned 43 days, including 37 working days and 296 total working hours.
At the heart of Concordia is the symbolism of nature. Clarke incorporates elements like jasmine, dragonflies, and hawks, which carry deeper cultural and spiritual meanings, while also aligning with the geometric ornamentation intrinsic to Islamic art. The design invokes the concept of paradise, shared by both Eastern and Western cultural traditions. The result is a profound dialogue between nature, culture, and history, encapsulated in a large-scale stained-glass masterpiece.
By fusing Islamic and Western artistic traditions, Concordia highlights Bahrain's commitment to fostering cross-cultural exchange. Sited in an airport-an inherently transitional space-the artwork welcomes travellers from around the world and serves as a symbol of Bahrain's open-mindedness, hospitality, and artistic ambition.
As airports are often the first point of contact for international visitors, Concordia offers a striking first impression of Bahrain's cultural landscape. The installation challenges traditional perceptions of stained glass by incorporating modern techniques and symbolic abstraction, presenting a dynamic and contemporary interpretation of a historically significant medium.
His Excellency Shaikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the Minister of Finance and National Economy and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), said: "Concordia is more than a work of art - it is a symbol of Bahrain's openness, hospitality, and ambition. This visionary masterpiece shines a light on Bahrain's longstanding commitment to integrating our culture and heritage into national projects."
Sir Brian Clarke said, "I have always had a dream of making a composition in a building on a great rectangular scale that is like a view through to another world. It's something that in some ways unites the two parts of the world, the one that I come from and this region. Everything I have ever learned about stained glass is in some ways is expressed in this window. I am very grateful that I am able to share my enthusiasms about paradise with anyone who sees this window."
Materials & Technical Execution
- Dimensions: 34 meters (width) × 17 meters (height)
- Materials: Handcrafted stained glass, assembled into 127 individual panels
- Weight: Each panel weighs approximately 250 kg, with the total weight of the installation being approximately 32 tons
Production & Craftsmanship
- Time to Create: 2.5 years for design, fabrication, and installation
- Team Involved: 21 people contributed to various aspects of the project, from design to execution
- Material Sources: The glass was blown in Germany, a process involving 5 skilled artisans and at least 5 assistants, taking 40 days to complete
- Installation & Engineering Feats: The installation process at Bahrain International Airport spanned 43 days, with 37 working days and a total of 296 working hours
To download press images visit: https://tinyurl.com/ukr6tjb9
Video download here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QqYIyCf3rM
For more information, please contact:
Global Communication Office
National Communication Centre of the Kingdom of Bahrain
Hotline: +97313111119
E-mail: communication@ncc.gov.bh
About Sir Brian Clarke
Sir Brian Clarke is one of the most celebrated stained-glass artists working today. Over his 50-year career, he has collaborated on projects and proposals with leading figures of architecture, from Zaha Hadid, I.M. Pei, Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers to Norman Foster. He has exhibited his stained glass and paintings across the world, and continues to create meaningful interventions into historic sites, both sacred and secular.
Having won a Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship in 1974, allowing him to visit important stained-glass sites in France, Germany and Italy, in 1978 Clarke co-curated the seminal exhibition GLASS/LIGHT with artists John Piper and Marc Chagall, exploring the history and enduring relevance of stained glass. By the 1980s Clarke was working internationally and adapting his style and materials to each site. In Clarke's words, 'a complex multivalent space, redolent with symbols and imagery, requires a complex response'. For both the Royal Mosque at the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1980-1982), and the refurbished Queen Victoria Street Arcade in Leeds, UK (1988-1990), Clarke turned to historic local tiling and glass for inspiration. Between 1992 and 1994, Clarke and architect Will Alsop collaborated on Le Grand Bleu, the headquarters and council chamber of the Hotel du département des Bouches-du-Rhône in Marseille, France, cladding the building in suitably Mediterranean ultramarine tones. His architectural projects and paintings came to form a mutual inspiration. Clarke exhibited his structural paintings in major international shows, from Brian Clarke: Paintings 1976-1987 at Seibu Museum, Tokyo, Japan (1987), to 80 artistes autour du Mondial at the Galerie Enrico Navarro, Paris, France (1998).
His sensitivity to site and collective memory also informs his spiritual commissions, including the Holocaust Memorial Synagogue (Neue Synagogue) in Darmstadt, Germany (1988), the Cistercian Abbaye de la Fille Dieu, Romont, Switzerland (1996) and the Papal Chapel at the Apostolic Nunciature, London, UK (2010). For the 13th-century Linköping Cathedral in Sweden (2005-2010), Clarke's windows incorporated photographs that reinterpreted Christian iconography, yet were adapted to fit and preserve the cathedral's original diamond-patterned 1850s windows, of great cultural and historical significance. ?
Clarke has continually innovated in his medium. For the Pfizer Pharmaceutical Headquarters, New York, USA (1995-1997), Clarke pioneered new techniques to reproduce his watercolour designs depicting medical and scientific imagery in molten glass. For his glass for the high-tech Al-Faisaliah Center, Riyadh (2000), Saudi Arabia's first skyscraper, he used a new technique, constructing imagery using coloured dots, without the traditional leading used in stained glass. In 2005, Clarke reprised this technology for Lamina, a seminal stained-glass artwork installed at Gagosian Gallery, London, UK.
His recent stained glass often combines the figurative and the abstract, typically rooted in watercolour and collage designs observed from nature. This language in glass is epitomised by Ardath (2023), a monumental stained-glass artwork, first exhibited at Brian Clarke: A Great Light at Damien Hirst's Newport Street Gallery, London, UK in 2023. Similar motifs can be found in Clarke's colossal window, to be unveiled at Bahrain International Airport in 2024. Fusing eastern and western symbols, this window responds both to the site's immense scale, and Bahrain's rich heritage.
He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (1993), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (1989) and an Honorary Liveryman at the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Master Painters (2012). He is Sole Executor and Chair of the Estate of Francis Bacon (1998), and Chair and Executor of the Zaha Hadid Foundation (2016). In the King's New Year Honours list 2024, he received a knighthood for his services to art - a title not known to have been given to a stained-glass artist before. In 2024, Clarke received the Freedom of the City of London for his outstanding contributions to art.
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