Dana Awartani

The Jeddah-born artist’s installation is typical of her focus on the destruction or erosion of cultural heritage. Its subject, the ancient Grand Mosque of Aleppo, was seriously damaged during the Syrian Civil War.

Zahrah Al-Ghamdi

The Jeddah-based artist’s work “explores tensions between the country’s traditions and globalization, often through the lens of her hometown, Al-Baha,” according to the show catalogue. “She is inspired by the domestic architecture of the city as well as the natural beauty of the area, though her work also considers what is lost to the Kingdom as it undergoes breakneck urban development.”

Desert X AlUla aims to contribute to and continue the artistic heritage of the local community and region: works from the 2020 edition by Lita Albuquerque, Manal AlDowayan, Sherin Guirguis, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Nadim Karam and Superflex remain in place in AlUla for public view, while Rashed AlShashai and Muhannad Shono are currently working as part of AlUla’s first art residency program, an 11-week program until Jan. 14, 2022.

Likewise, the ongoing collaboration provides an international platform for Saudi artists: Zahrah Alghamdi, whose work Glimpses of the Past was presented in the inaugural Desert X AlUla, went on to exhibit her work What Lies Behind the Walls to critical acclaim at Desert X 2021 in California.

The outdoor art biennial Desert X provided art aficionados with the opportunity to get out of the house and safely enjoy art again while Southern California museums remained shut down. The exhibition featured 10 art installations throughout the Coachella Valley over nine weeks last spring. 

Other notable artworks included Eduardo Sarabia's maze made of petates, which are traditional rugs woven from palm fibers; Joshua Tree artist Kim Stringfellow's "Jackrabbit Homestead," a replica of Catherine Venn's homestead and experiences featured in a 1950 issue of Desert Magazine; and Saudi Arabia artist Zahrah Alghamdi's "What Lies Behind the Walls," a wall made of stacked dyed slabs of soil and cements that formed mesmerizing patterns from afar and up close. 

Desert X is an annual art biennial which displays the works of international artists in California’s Coachella Valley, and this year, it is bringing the works of two Arab artists for its 13th edition, which kicked off on March 12.

Artists showcasing their work at the “Second Hand” exhibit include resident Art Jameel artists, including, Diana Al-Hadid, Doa Aly, Fayçal Baghriche, Walead Beshty, Vikram Divecha, Bita Ghezelayagh, Mohammed Kazem, Azade Köker, Cinthia Marcelle, Keita Miyazaki, Slavs and Tatars, Moffat Takadiwa, Mario García Torres, Jason Dodge, Zahrah Al-Ghamdi, Adel Abdessemed, Haig Aivazian, and Abbas Akhavan.

The name of the art show is inspired by Moffat Takadiwa’s piece, “Second Hand Information” (2014). Hailing from Zimbabwe, Moffat’s piece is formed by computer keys, which instigates the notion that the way information is carried from one person to another, and so forth, is similar to the way “material changes over time”.

Much of the artwork from the show has been created using materials that have been repurposed or morphed to highlight the way in which a setting can transform the purpose of particular resources. Interestingly, there are also some art pieces in the exhibition that look at the way items and art are created, making the process of creation, artistic.

DUBAI: The Dubai-based Jameel Arts Centre has unveiled a new program this summer, including a diverse exhibition titled “Second Hand,” which is set to run until Nov. 23.

The exhibition explores divergent takes on materiality and features works by 18 artists and collectives from the Art Jameel Collection. It includes commissions, performances, workshops, talks and film screenings.

While a meticulously crafted, site-specific commission by Zahrah Al-Ghamdi sees leather forms spill out across the gallery and into the adjacent courtyard.

Saudi Arabian artist Zahrah Al-Ghamdi contributes an installation made of leather and cotton thread. The artist told Arab News last month that she is inspired by the land artists of the 1970s, and their “ability to use raw materials to express their feelings. They helped me to see ‘nothing’ as something important.”

This month saw perhaps the most significant accomplishment of Al-Ghamdi’s career to date. The artist was chosen to inaugurate Saudi Arabia’s pavilion at the 2019 edition of the Venice Biennale —the art world’s largest public event and oldest contemporary art show — through an immersive solo exhibition entitled “After Illusion.”

Al-Ghamdi was jointly selected to represent the Kingdom by the recently developed Saudi Ministry of Culture and the Misk Art Institute, a homegrown arts foundation that aims to strengthen artistic activity within the Kingdom.  “To be honest, when I used to read about the Venice Biennale and its unique concept, I felt so far away from that world — it was like a dream,” Al Ghamdi tells Arab News. “In recent years, I’ve worked really hard and always hoped to achieve more through each work I would present. So when I received the call from the Misk Art Institute to participate at the biennale, it was like a dream I never thought I’d dream. I was elated but simultaneously felt a great deal of responsibility, as I am not representing (just) myself, but my country and all its artists.”  

Through her debut participation at the biennale, which is open to the public until November 24, Al-Ghamdi joins a canon of female artists putting on solo exhibitions and taking the lead in representing their countries to the world, including Larissa Sansour for Denmark, Laure Prouvost for France, Cathy Wilkes for Great Britain, Nujoom Al-Ghanem for the UAE and Naiza Khan for Pakistan.

Saudi Arabian artist Zahrah Al Ghamdi spends weeks assembling site-specific works in natural materials such as sand, rocks and leather. The Jeddah-based artist is part of an all-female cast who focus on memory, nostalgia, and the tensions between Saudi traditions and globalisation in their work. An A-lister among regional collectors, Al Ghamdi also headlines in prestigious venues such as the Jameel Arts Centre and Alserkal Avenue in Dubai.

In preparation for her Venice Biennale presentation at the Sale d’Armi, a 15th-century weapons depot, Al Ghamdi spent months cutting, sewing, shredding, boiling, drying and burning local leather into 52,000 abstract pieces. They reference random organic forms, Aseeri ornaments and local architecture of Al-Baha, her birth village in the southwest of the country.