Ahmed Mater was born in 1979 in Tabuk and grew up in Abha; the capital of Aseer (a region to the south of Saudi Arabia), far from the urban centers of Saudi Arabia, of which he remains rooted to it’s identity , As well as leading a young artistic collective called Ibn Aseer (Son of Aseer), Mater is an integral part of the history of Abha’s Miftaha Arts Village while simultaneously studying medicine. Ahmed also co-founded Edge of Arabia in 2008. Mater’s work has been widely exhibited across the globe such as The Mori Museum of Art (Tokyo), The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO), the Sharjah Biennale (2013), Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde (Leiden Museum of Ethnology), Home Works 6 at Ashkal Alwan in Beirut, Lebanon (2013), and Galleria Continua’s Le Moulin (Paris), New Museum (2014), Centre Pompidou (2014). He has participated in a number of panels and talks: The Louvre (2010), Berlin Akademie der Kunste (2010), The Armory Show New York (2011), Art Basel Miami (2012), Leiden Museum Amsterdam (2013), Art Basel Hong Kong (2014).  His work is in the collection of the British Museum (London), Victoria & Albert Museum (London), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, CA), the Museum of Islamic Art (Doha), Centre Pompidou (Paris) and Smithsonian Institute (Washington DC). 

His recent practice presents an unofficial history of Saudi sociopolitical life. It is concerned with the representation of traumatic events of collective historical dimensions, and the ways in which films, video, image, performance and text can document physical and psychological contention.