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Arab News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Arab News
Photography competition winners celebrate Saudi landscapes and stories
JEDDAH: Two new photography exhibitions in Jeddah are celebrating the work of the winners of a competition that awarded a total of SR400,000 in prize money to participants. 'Hayy Aynak — In a New Light' and 'When the Fog Whispers' were opened by the Visual Arts Commission at Hayy Jameel on Wednesday. The exhibitions will run until May 25 in conjunction with the third Kingdom Photography Award, which began earlier this year. The award has become a prominent platform for capturing the spirit of Saudi Arabia through the lens of its creative talents. This exhibition celebrates the Kingdom's natural beauty, cultural richness and artistic innovation through photography. The competition invites artists to explore a specific region of the Kingdom through their work. Dina Amin, CEO of the Visual Arts Commission, told Arab News: 'The idea is to start to create through the lens of different photographers and their creative process, a body of work that captures the richness of the landscapes of Saudi Arabia through different languages of expression, different creative processes, different types of photography and storytelling to really create a visual odyssey almost through the landscape, the people and the environment of Saudi Arabia today.' She added: 'If you look in today's exhibition, you'll see some of the photographers have chosen to look at natural environment, landscape. Others have chosen to look at population and populated environments, so to speak, whereas others are really looking at tradition and history. So, with each engagement, we start to have this beautiful journey.' The 'Hayy Aynak' exhibition presents the winning works from the third running of the award, which received more than 1,300 submissions and awarded a total of SR400,000 in prizes. The exhibition celebrates the aesthetics and diverse landscapes of the Kingdom — from the buzz of urban life to the stillness of the desert. An international jury evaluated the submissions and selected the most compelling and meaningful stories based on creativity, technical proficiency and the narrative power of visual storytelling. The second exhibition, 'When the Fog Whispers,' takes visitors on a personal and emotional journey to the Asir region, long a source of artistic inspiration thanks to its mist-covered mountains and deep-rooted cultural heritage. Five artists were selected to create special photography projects that reflected their relationships with the Asir landscape. The resulting works are visually captivating and rich in reflection, documentation and human connection. Mohammed Sumji, the curator of the third outing of the award, told Arab News about the experience of bringing photographers together to explore the distinctive landscape of Asir. 'We selected the region of Asir, and the five photographers that we selected were known to me, and I basically selected them based on their potential to make works especially around Asir because they practice dealing with either stories of people's lived experiences or landscapes. I'm very happy with how it's come out.' Saudi photographer, Abdulmajeed Al-Ruwaidan, chose the theme 'Roadside Stations' for his submission, documenting the architecture of old Saudi gas stations before they disappeared under modern development. Elham Al-Dossary, also from Saudi Arabia, chose the theme 'Crossing Asir,' blending her late father's archive as a photographer with contemporary images to create a visual narrative that meditates on memory and transformation. For the past two years, Ilham has been helping her father archive his work, and a small part of that archive is dedicated to his time in Asir. 'He has an archive at home that dates back to the 1960s and '70s,' she told Arab News. She continued: 'The archive became a way to view Asir through a personal and familial lens. 'There's a connection between me and my father — through the land, through the people — and I also wanted to explore more stories, not just about him, but about life there and the areas we photographed, like Al-Habla and others.' Mohamed Mahdy, from Egypt, titled his collection 'When the Land Loves You.' It is a poignant portrayal of the emotional connection between the people of Asir and their land, captured through nostalgic and heartfelt imagery. Lina Geoushy, also from Egypt, called her collection 'Daughters of Al-Qatt.' Hers is a colorful celebration of the women who sustain the traditional Al-Qatt Al-Asiri artform, recognized by UNESCO. Her photographs honor this living tradition. She told Arab News: 'This photo is especially important to me because it's in this very rich village, Rijal Almaa … it plays on the idea of the inside and the outside, the internal spaces or imaginaries and the landscape; the lady in the photo is Sharifa Mahdy, who's been practicing this art for 25 years, and she learnt it from the famous Fatima Abou Gahas. 'Apart from it being a life tradition, Qatt art has healing powers … it gives them confidence and positivity and it's sort of like a refuge for them.' Hicham Gardaf, from Morocco, created a collection titled 'The Road to the Juniper.' It is a meticulously crafted visual journey through juniper forests, where nature becomes a silent cultural archive filled with untold stories. He told Arab News: 'I imagined this massive juniper tree with roots spreading across Asir — like routes we travel, all leading back to this one tree that connects the land, the people and their stories.' Throughout the exhibition period, the Visual Arts Commission will also host a series of interactive workshops and panel discussions featuring local and international experts. These sessions aim to create space for dialogue, skill development and knowledge exchange, enriching visitors' experience and fostering artistic and professional growth across various fields of the visual arts.
The National
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Art Week Riyadh: First city-wide event is proposing a new way of discovering art
In Le grand miroir du monde, or the great mirror of the world, thousands of mirrored shards are arranged in a rectangle spanning several metres. The work by Algerian-French artist Kader Attia captures the fragmented state of the world while also suggesting that something new and beautiful may arise from the broken pieces. The installation is the opening piece of Art Week Riyadh's curated section at the Jax District. The scale and nature of the work effectively and immediately set the tone of the event. It makes it clear from the outset that the inaugural Art Week Riyadh is not an art fair. Rather, the event presents something new – a city-wide initiative that aims to celebrate and bolster the Saudi capital's art scene. 'We thought about ways in which we could create platforms that would allow for connectivity, increased awareness, dialogue, debate, exchange, and at the same time, shed a light on the many actors that play a part in the arts landscape of Saudi Arabia,' Dina Amin, chief executive of the Visual Arts Commission, says. 'We envisioned and envisaged an art week that would be a new model, which would move away from the traditional format of being a commercially inclined event and one that would be culturally focused,' she says. This position is particularly evident in At The Edge, the curated section of Art Week Riyadh and the centrepiece for the event. More than 30 local and international galleries are showcasing works as part of the curated section at the Jax District. By not basing their selections on the priority of sales, galleries are instead all putting their best foot forward. Most of the works presented are grand in scale and teeter towards the conceptual. The exhibition is a bit like an all-star show, featuring several top names from the local and regional arts scenes. Galleria Continua is showcasing a series of works by Ahmed Mater that were produced using plastic toy gun caps, with a series of panels that spell out the words hilm (dream), hurriya (freedom) and salam (peace). Tabari Artspace is presenting Lulwah Al Homoud's 100 Names of Allah, which proposes a universal geometric language that takes cues from Ibn Muqlah's Proportional Cursive Script and the mathematical principles of the Vedic Square. Lawrie Shabibi is showcasing untitled works by Shaikha Al Mazrou that are emblematic of her use of painted metal to explore form, space and abstraction. Perrotin is showing Monira Al Qadiri's hand-blown glass series, which draws from the form of the toxic Portuguese man o' war jellyfish. Lisson Gallery is presenting the mixed media works of Wael Shawky, which reimagines familiar landscapes and forms with a touch of magic realism. Efie Gallery is highlighting the large, intricate textile works of Abdoulaye Konate. Ayyam Gallery is showcasing works by Faisal Samra and Safwan Dahoul. Le Lab is presenting paintings and sculptures by Khaled Zaki. There is an arresting work at every turn. 'We wanted to make it inter-generational, not only the youngest or the oldest, really everybody. This was our mission,' Vittoria Matarrese, artistic director and curator of Art Week Riyadh, says. 'With the gallery, it's important to treat them as partners. Too often, we think galleries are just vendors. But galleries are the closest to the artists. They discover them, let them grow, of course they also sell their works, but they also figure out how to put them in museums and institutions. 'The whole idea was really to talk to them and select works that you don't see usually in fairs,' Matarrese adds. 'For example, if you see the Wael Shawky booth with Lisson, this is a museum piece. Who ships this for an art fair? Nobody.' However, it's one thing to bring thought-provoking works, but ensuring a cohesive curation is another. The scenography was a key part in this. With an open space, and minimal divisions, the exhibition organically moves from one gallery booth to another, while also shifting across its three thematic threads: Everyday Life, Landscapes and Motifs. 'We really tried to connect it between the galleries,' Matarrese says. While At the Edge can perhaps be seen as the nucleus attraction of Art Week Riyadh – its initiatives and exhibitions are far more sprawling. Collections in Dialogue, also taking place at the Jax District, is highlighting important collections of three institutions. These include King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture (Ithra), which is showcasing works by Maha Malluh, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Mohammad Alfaraj and Hazem Harb. Art Jameel is presenting works from Ahaad Alamoudi, Hiwa K, Yto Barrada and Mater. The Saudi Research and Media Group is highlighting the development of abstraction in Saudi Arabia, exhibiting artists such as Mohammed Al-Saleem, Abdulhalim Radwi, Taha Al-Sabban, Raeda Ashour, Rashed AlShashai and Zaman Jassim. The Al Mousa Centre in central Riyadh is also a major site of Art Week Riyadh. Formerly a commercial complex, the centre has grown to become a cultural attraction with 15 galleries. The institutions will be presenting a mixture of group and solo exhibitions especially put together for Art Week Riyadh. Although several exhibitions and events have been set up, it is Art Week Riyadh's public programming that seeks to animate these different elements. The programming includes a series of talks titled How to Art World? Lessons in Value. The talks, curated by writer Shumon Basar, will delve into subjects relevant to the visual arts scene in Riyadh. Participants will include cultural experts from Christie's, Sotheby's Gagosian and others. 'As a visual arts commission, we're dedicated to knowledge, knowledge awareness, knowledge exchange, transfer,' Amin says. 'It's part of our DNA as an entity.' Mater, Ayman Zedani, Marwah AlMugait and Muhannad Shono will also be opening up their studios at Jax District to the public this week, allowing audiences to discover their creative spaces and learn more about their artistic processes. 'When we talk about the richness and depth and breadth of everything that's happening here, there's no way we can capture it in one exhibition,' Amin says. 'Part of Art Week Riyadh is really asking that everyone open their doors for all of us to be able to discover what's happening. That discovery will vary from studio to studio, entity to entity. Each organisation has a different language and a different focus. That richness is really important for us when understanding what Art Week Riyadh is trying to do.' Art Week Riyadh 2025 runs until April 13
The National
07-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Art Week Riyadh: Inaugural city-wide event is proposing a new way of discovering art
In Le grand miroir du monde, or the great mirror of the world, thousands of mirrored shards are arranged in a rectangle spanning several metres. The work by Algerian-French artist Kader Attia captures the fragmented state of the world while also suggesting that something new and beautiful may arise from the broken pieces. The installation is the opening piece of Art Week Riyadh's curated section at the Jax District. The scale and nature of the work effectively and immediately sets the tone of the event. It makes it clear from the outset that the inaugural Art Week Riyadh is not an art fair. Rather, the event presents something new – a city-wide initiative that aims to celebrate and bolster the Saudi capital's art scene. 'We thought about ways in which we could create platforms that would allow for connectivity, increased awareness, dialogue, debate, exchange, and at the same time, shed a light on the many actors that play a part in the arts landscape of Saudi Arabia,' Dina Amin, chief executive of the Visual Arts Commission, says. 'We envisioned and envisaged an art week that would be a new model, which would move away from the traditional format of being a commercially inclined event and one that would be culturally focused,' she says. This position is particularly evident in At The Edge, the curated section of Art Week Riyadh and the centrepiece for the event. More than 30 local and international galleries are showcasing works as part of the curated section at the Jax District. By not basing their selections on the priority of sales, galleries are instead all putting their best foot forward. Most of the works presented are grand in scale and teeter to towards the conceptual. The exhibition is a bit like an all-star show, featuring several top names from the local and regional arts scenes. Galleria Continua is showcasing a series of works by Ahmed Mater that were produced using plastic toy gun caps, with a series of panels that spell out the words hilm (dream), hurriya (freedom) and salam (peace). Tabari Artspace is presenting Lulwah Al Homoud's 100 Names of Allah, which proposes a universal geometric language that takes cues from Ibn Muqlah's Proportional Cursive Script and the mathematical principles of the Vedic Square. Lawrie Shabibi is showcasing untitled works by Shaikha Al Mazrou that are emblematic of her use of painted metal to explore form, space and abstraction. Perrotin is showing Monira Al Qadiri's hand-blown glass series, which draws from the form of the toxic Portuguese man o' war jellyfish. Lisson Gallery is presenting the mixed media works of Wael Shawky, which reimagines familiar landscape and forms with a touch of magic realism. Efie Gallery is highlighting the large intricate textile works of Abdoulaye Konate. Ayyam Gallery is showcasing works by Faisal Samra and Safwan Dahoul. Le Lab is presenting paintings and sculptures by Khaled Zaki. There is an arresting work at every turn. 'We wanted to make it inter-generational, not only the youngest or the oldest, really everybody. This was our mission,' Vittoria Matarrese, artistic director and curator of Art Week Riyadh, says. 'With the gallery, it's important to treat them as partners. Too often, we think galleries are just vendors. But galleries are the closest persons to the artists. They discover them, let them grow, of course they also sell their works, but they also figure out how to put them in museums and institutions. 'The whole idea was really to talk to them and select works that you don't see usually in fairs,' Matarrese adds. 'For example, if you see the Wael Shawky booth with Lisson, this is a museum piece. Who ships this for an art fair? Nobody.' However, it's one thing to bring thought-provoking works, but ensuring a cohesive curation is another. The scenography was a key part in this. With an open space, and minimal divisions, the exhibition organically moves from one gallery booth to another, while also shifting across its three thematic threads: Everyday Life, Landscapes and Motifs. 'We really tried to connect it between the galleries,' Matarrese says. While At the Edge can perhaps be seen as the nucleus attraction of Art Week Riyadh – its initiatives and exhibitions are far more sprawling. Collections in Dialogue, also taking place at the Jax District, is highlighting important collections of three institutions. These include King Abdulaziz Centre for World Culture (Ithra), which is showcasing works by Maha Malluh, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Mohammad Alfaraj and Hazem Harb. Art Jameel is presenting works from Ahaad Alamoudi, Hiwa K, Yto Barrada and Mater. The Saudi Research and Media Group is highlighting the development of abstraction in Saudi Arabia, exhibiting artists such as Mohammed Al-Saleem, Abdulhalim Radwi, Taha Al-Sabban, Raeda Ashour, Rashed AlShashai and Zaman Jassim. The Al Mousa Centre in central Riyadh is also a major site of Art Week Riyadh. Formerly a commercial complex, the centre has grown to become a cultural attraction with 15 galleries. The institutions will be presenting a mixture of group and solo exhibitions especially put together for Art Week Riyadh. Although several exhibitions and events have been set up, it is Art Week Riyadh's public programming that seeks to animate these different elements. The programming includes a series of talks titled How to Art World? Lessons in Value. The talks, curated by writer Shumon Basar, will delve into subjects relevant to the visual arts scene in Riyadh. Participants will include cultural experts from Christie's, Sotheby's Gagosian and others. 'As a visual arts commission, we're dedicated to knowledge, knowledge awareness, knowledge exchange, transfer,' Amin says. 'It's part of our DNA as an entity.' Mater, Ayman Zedani, Marwah AlMugait and Muhannad Shono will also be opening up their studios at Jax District to the public this week, allowing audiences to discover their creative spaces and learn more about their artistic processes. 'When we talk about the richness and depth and breadth of everything that's happening here, there's no way we can capture it in one exhibition,' Amin says. 'Part of Art Week Riyadh is really asking that everyone open their doors for all of us to be able to discover what's happening. That discovery will vary from studio to studio, entity to entity. Each organisation has has a different language and a different focus. That richness is really important for us when understanding what Art Week Riyadh is trying to do.'
Saudi Gazette
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Saudi Gazette
Riyadh Art Week launches with over 50 galleries showcasing global artistic dialogue
Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — The inaugural edition of Riyadh Art Week, themed 'On the Edge of the Horizon,' has officially launched with the participation of over 50 local, regional, and international galleries. The event, organized by the Visual Arts Commission, brings together more than 240 artists and over 500 artworks, highlighting Saudi Arabia's evolving role in the global art scene. Riyadh Art Week aims to support and empower artists, foster cultural exchange, and promote creative diversity through a non-commercial platform rooted in contemporary artistic expression. Princess Adwa bint Abdullah, Chairwoman of Riyadh Art Week, said the initiative embodies 'the spirit of communication between artists' and celebrates the participation of Saudi creatives featured in international galleries. 'It is remarkable to see the event hosting more than 50 galleries and over 500 artworks, representing local and international experiences,' she added. Dina Amin, CEO of the Visual Arts Commission, emphasized the importance of Riyadh Art Week as a milestone in developing the arts sector. 'This platform strengthens Saudi Arabia's cultural infrastructure and showcases our artistic talent on the global stage,' she said. Held across various venues in Riyadh, the event's centerpiece is in the Jax District, which features a major exhibition structured around three central themes: daily life, landscapes, and ornaments. Al-Mousa Center hosts additional solo and group shows, while invited institutions including the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), Art Jameel, and the Saudi Research and Media Group (SRMG) are also holding curated exhibitions. Riyadh Art Week is part of the Visual Arts Commission's strategic initiatives to strengthen the visual arts sector in the Kingdom, empower Saudi artists, and amplify the country's cultural footprint globally.
Asharq Al-Awsat
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Visual Arts Commission Launches ‘Zawaya Wa Afkar' Initiative in Paris
The Visual Arts Commission (VAC) has announced the launch of the first international edition of the Dialogues in Contemporary Art 'Zawaya Wa Afkar' initiative, scheduled to take place in Paris on Saturday, February 15. This initiative is part of the commission's efforts to support Saudi visual artists and promote creative exchange that highlights the richness of the Saudi cultural scene on the global art stage, in line with the National Culture Strategy under the umbrella of Saudi Vision 2030, SPA reported. Titled When the Earth Began to Look at Itself, the first edition draws inspiration from an artwork created by Syn Architects as part of Desert X AlUla. It explores the evolving relationship between humans and nature from a contemporary artistic perspective. This edition brings together several Saudi artists, as well as international philosophers and curators, in three public discussion sessions. These dialogues aim to delve into innovative artistic strategies that reconsider humanity's responsibility toward the planet's environment—an issue that has gained global attention in recent years. VAC Chief Executive Officer Dina Amin emphasized that the initiative seeks to celebrate the creativity of contemporary Saudi artists and provide a platform for sharing diverse ideas in contemporary art. She noted that bringing together Saudi artists with their international counterparts is intended to inspire meaningful discussions and encourage innovative artistic practices that foster cultural exchange.
