DHAHRAN: A popular Arabic song by a legendary Saudi singer inadvertently became the inspiration for an entire art exhibition that debuted last year in Jeddah. For the first time, that exhibit is now housed in Dhahran, where original works of art serve as personalized portals of nostalgia that allow viewers to take a trip down memory lane to real or imagined destinations.
The 19 artists from Saudi Arabia are: Abdullah Al-Othman, Abdulhalim Radwi, legendary artist Safeya Binzagr, Reem Al-Faisal, Bashaer Hawsawi, Emy Kat, Mohammed Hammad, Obadah Al-Jefri, Sara Abdu, Badr Ali, Asma Bahmim, Hussein Al-Mohasen, Muhannad Shono, Lujain Faqerah and Shadia Alem.

AL-ULA, SAUDI ARABIA (AFP) – In one of Saudi artist Ahmed Mater’s best-known works, a silhouette of a gas pump morphs into a man holding a gun to his head – a clear critique of oil’s damaging influence.
Yet for several years, most Saudis couldn’t see the piece, titled Evolution of Man, as local curators deemed it too sensitive to show in the oil-reliant kingdom.
Its inclusion in a recent exhibition in the capital Riyadh is just one sign of changing times.
The Wadi AlFann works “are on a scale and ambition, and they have such vision behind them, that I think people will want to come for many, many generations to visit them”, said curator Iwona Blazwick, former director of London’s Whitechapel Gallery.
 

An international lineup of artists has been named as the first group to embark on an ambitious large-scale installations project in AlUla’s Wadi AlFann.
The Royal Commission for AlUla announced that US artists James Turrell, Agnes Denes, and Michael Heizer will be joined by Saudi creative pioneers Ahmed Mater and Manal Al-Dowayan to produce artworks in the new Wadi AlFann valley, covering an area of 65 square kilometers. The projects will be unveiled from 2024.
Visual artist Mater’s installation for the valley, “Ashab Al-Lal,” will use a subterranean tunnel and mirrors to give visitors the optical illusion of seeing a mirage.
 
 

Saudi Arabia will be returning to Biennale Arte this year, making it the third time the Kingdom participates in the International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. And multidisciplinary visual artist Muhannad Shono has been selected to represent his country at the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia. The Riyadh-based creative will be working alongside curator Reem Fadda and assistant curator Rotana Shaker during the 59 th edition of the event, which is being held between 23 April and 27 November.

Art Basel has revealed the name of the 289 exhibitors that would be participating in the upcoming edition of its Swiss Fair, scheduled to be held between June 16-19 this year.
The list includes many of the usual renowned galleries of the world, like Pace, Hauser & Wirth, Gagosian and David Zwirner. Apart from that, the fair will also feature 19 exhibitors who would be featured for the first time in an Art Basel fair. The debutants include Proyectos Ultravioleta (Guatemala City), Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago and Paris), and Athr Gallery (spread across Saudi Arabia.). Two African galleries, Jahmek Contemporary Art (Luanda) and OH Gallery (Dakar) would also make their debut.

As part of the Desert X international contemporary art exhibition, the second edition of the Desert X AlUla features 15 contextual installations across the Saudi Arabian desert that explore "ideas of mirage and oasis". This year's exhibition is curated by Reem Fadda, Raneem Farsi, and Neville Wakefield, under the theme of Sarab (arabic for ' Mirage' ) , and invites artists to address the history and culture of the desert, its contemporary significance, and the dichotomy between the natural and man-made world.

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.”
 

During the three days celebrating the closing of the AlUla Art Residency, a dynamic public programming featured six prominent artists' works, through their creation and research, to the AlUla residents and community of experts, giving a fresh look on how to give a new lease of life to the oasis.
As a ritualistic catafalque, Muhannad Shono's On this Sacred Day represents the cycle of death and renewal unfolding among the living oasis. From the smoke that rises are stories of comings and goings, loss, and remembrance.
 

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. 

With the “Prognosis:1979-2019” exhibition, Mater actively challenges perceptions and opens up alternative paths for accessing history, knowledge and meaning through his allegorical art practice.
Ahmed Mater, considered one of Saudi Arabia’s most acclaimed contemporary artists, is to inaugurate Riyadh’s Lakum Artspace with his first ever solo show in the Kingdom. The exhibition by the physician turned artist, titled “Prognosis:1979-2019,” is kicking off on December 8 and will be running at the multi-functional contemporary ‘art space for all’ for two months.

The notion of the relativisation of space is a recurring theme in the works of artists Joël Andrianomearisoa, Cécile Bart, Daniel Canogar, Anaïs LelieÌ€vre, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Muhannad Shono and Carola Zech. Meanwhile, Darren Almond and Hugo Aveta attempt to relativise time, helping their works create the perfect counterpoint. Visitors will be invited to analyse thoughts from memory, history, and the inclusion of past and present imaginaries in video installations by artists Tanja Deman, Gabriela Golder, Chris Larson, Matilde Marin, Angelika Markul and Sujin Lim. Guests can also do this through Valérie Jouve’s photographs and the interactive objects of SeÌ€ve Favre. Art lovers have the opportunity of examining the works of Daniah Alsaleh Lina Gazzaz, and Tony Oursler to contemplate the state of the individual too.