RIYADH: Contemporary artist Ahmed Mater’s first visit to Makkah sparked a magnetic attraction to the holy site that would shape his creative outlook on life.Similar to many Saudis, his initial interaction with the city was as a child, but his most vivid memories of visiting Makkah came during his medical university years.

One of Mater’s most popular artworks, “Magnetism,” was constructed using thousands of iron particles surrounding a magnetic cuboid, a symbol of the Kaaba, which becomes the center of attraction to the small particles. “I create most of my artwork based on attraction,” he added.

Major artists have signed up to exhibit their artwork in Saudi Arabia’s AlUla following the launch of the Arts Valley Project.

The Royal Commission of AlUla announced the launch of the 25-square-mile project on Tuesday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Major artists including James Turrell and Michael Heizer will be among the artists who will permanently install their pieces in the northwestern desert area over the next couple of years, the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday.

Turrell told WSJ in an interview that the Kingdom’s “diplomatic or nationalistic tendencies” could be propelling the timing and backing of Wadi al-Fann, which translates to the Valley of the Arts in English.

“I have shown in Moscow, Shanghai, Beijing – places where I doubt I could show today. It is possible for art to bridge large cultural gaps,” he added.

Saudi officials have also enlisted Iwona Blazwick, former director of London’s Whitechapel Art Gallery, to curate the project and chair the RCU’s panel of art experts.

In addition to Turrell and Michael Heizer, conceptual artist Agnes Denes and Saudi artists Manal al-Dowayan and Ahmed Mater will install massive pieces at the arts valley. More artists will eventually be added to the valley’s programming, Blazwick said.

“I don’t think there’s anywhere else in the world featuring all these titans,” she said. “It’s going to be remarkable to see them in these surroundings.”

There were discussions about Saudi Arabia's first contemporary art biennial happening in tandem with a China-Saudi cultural year, so I was told by artist and prince Sultan bin Fahad bin Nasser. Hence the selection of Philip Tinari as artistic director.

While Covid-19 scuppered these plans, a soft power logic infuses the Diriyah Biennale (11 December 2021–11 March 2022), staged across six renovated warehouses in the JAX district of Diriyah, on the edge of Riyadh, where the UNESCO world heritage site At-Turaif constitutes the birthplace of the first Saudi state.

Curated by UCCA's Philip Tinari, the biennial features a strong contingent of Chinese artists including Xu Bing, Zhang Peili, and Nabuqi.

 Simon Denny, Sarah Morris, and Lawrence Lek are among the international artists who will show at the biennale from 11 December 2021 till 11 March 2022. It will take place in Diriyah's JAX district, which comprises over 100 refurbished warehouses not far from Saudi Arabia's capital, Riyadh.

Of the event's 63 artists, 26 come from Saudi Arabia, including Maha Malluh, Manal AlDowayan, Ahmed Mater, and Sarah Abu Abdallah.

Maan was initiated as a response to the magnitude of the current crisis and its impact on the arts community and a continuation of Athr’s support of the art scene and its artists. It is intrinsic to our mission to proactively participate in their sustainability all while making art accessible to a wider audience and triggering change, particularly in times of uncertainty.  Initiated by Athr in cooperation with artists, the production and research fund consists of creating limited edition artworks by established and emerging artists to support fellow practicing artists.

Open to all Saudi Arabia-based visual artists, irrespective of medium of practice. There are no limitations concerning age, region or provenance of the applicant. If you are a visual artist and have a project that needs a stimulus of funds for completion or need seed funding for production or research, please see the link below and apply online.

For further information, please contact us via this email address.

maangrant@athrart.com

“Symbolic Cities,” which Mater shot over three years, explores the impact of urbanization and economic change on the landscapes of his native Saudi Arabia through long-form photography and video. The exhibit consists of large-scale photographic works, shot in color, as well as two short films and a collection of smaller photographs.

Viewers traveling through the exhibit begin with “The Empty Land,” a series of 15 photographs that depict parched Saudi landscapes devoid of human presence, abandoned public works projects and discarded oil barrels — objects that represent the abandonment of traditional values and agrarian ways of life in the face of modernization.

The first US solo exhibition of the renowned Saudi artist, Ahmed Mater, has opened this week at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. The ‘Symbolic Cities’ exhibition, presented in collaboration with Culturunners in partnership with Art Jameel, will be on display at the Arthur M Sackler Gallery until Sept. 18. 

This week the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery begins hosting “Symbolic Cities,” the first solo show in America dedicated to the works of Ahmed Mater, one of Saudi Arabia’s top young artists and intellectuals. Over the last decade, Mater has been among the leading figures in an artistic movement that has altered both what is discussed in public and the manner in which contentious issues are presented. Today the artistic movement includes men and women working in genres from animation to film to standup comedy.

Saudi artist Ahmed Mater will present his first US solo exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. “Symbolic Cities” is being presented in collaboration with Culturunners in partnership with Art Jameel, a Community Jameel initiative, and Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts (SASCA), and will be on view at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery from March 19 through Sept. 18.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an immersive program of dialogues and discussions across Washington D.C.

Another eye-grabbing installation is Ahmed Mater’s at Athr, a gallery from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, including a wall work made with plastic gun caps, “Cowboy Code II” (2012), which links the honor code of American cowboys with jihadist fighters. In the modern section, a related “focus” project brought a mini-exhibition of work by Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli, organized by New York University’s Grey Art Gallery.