The exhibited artworks are extremely technical and require a lot of experience to produce and install. But thanks to the great team of Athr, Pace and Cruz-Diez, we were able to realize it in the highest level of standard,” she added. Saudi artist Nasser Al Salem presented abstract works alluding to Allah as the source of light. The beautiful metaphorical representations in which its letters are stripped down to basic geometric lines are the first iterations derived from an earlier work by the artist. “Working on an exhibition about light, I created an installation using the word Allah. God is light, [He is the first and the last]. The work breaks the notions of illusionary space, and goes beyond nature’s limits. It uses two mirrors, one on each side, to blur the boarders between the physical and visual realms, and create an imaginary, infinite world. 

Saudi Arabia is participating in the Venice architecture biennale for the first time, in a pavilion commissioned by the Misk Art Institute, the foundation set up by Crown Prince Moham­med bin Salman and run by Ahmed Mater.
The pavilion is made up of six spaces designed by the young Jeddah-based architects Abdulrahman and Turki Gazzaz, brothers who collaborate as the studio Bricklab. They present “an introduction to the major urban centres in Saudi Arabia and how the oil boom has affected their growth”, says Abdulrahman Gazzaz, the elder of the two. “Jeddah, as the port city, with its long history as the gateway to the holy cities; Makkah, as the religious capital; Riyadh, as the government capital; and Damman, as the centre of the oil industry.”
Right now, he continues, “a lot of changes are happening. We have this space in between what it was and what it is and what is becoming. It’s a fascinating point in the history of Saudi Arabia.”
'In Saudi, there is a stronger sense of community'
The title for the pavilion,  Spaces in Between , looks not only at changes to the kingdom, but also at the fact that Saudi cities are a patchwork of spaces. Because urbanisation in Saudi Arabia was spurred on by the oil boom, its cities are characterised by sprawl, built with cars in mind rather than the slow pace of foot traffic.
 
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“The combination of sand and resin reflects two primordial conditions of Saudi Arabia as a nation: its oil economy and its desert landscape,” Turki explains. “Even though there’s a lot of diversity around the kingdom in terms of natural environments and climates, the desert comes to the foreground when one recalls the Gulf or Saudi Arabia in particular.”

Saudi Arabia has launched a venture to become an arts hub. The Riyadh-based Misk Art Institute, sponsored by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, aims to be a center of education, culture and society. Hend Al-Mansour, who has said that women artists are still often overlooked in Saudi Arabia, has named five women to watch who overcome those barriers. Many have been recognized inside and outside Saudi Arabia, particularly in the US.

It features Ahmad Angawi, Dana Awartani, Rashed Al-Shashai, Ajlan Gharem, Zahra Al-Ghamdi, Ayman Yossri Daydban, Jameela Mater, Ahaad Alamoudi and Ali Mogawi working within the confines of their studios between Jeddah, Abha and Riyadh. The movie is shot around the Kingdom showcasing the stunning landscape and never-seen-before footage of rural and present-day spaces in a manner that transports one to Saudi Arabia via a VR headset. “Reframe Saudi is a VR documentary about the art scene in Saudi Arabia, 

Dania Al Saleh focuses her work on the use of geometry as a communicative tool, using patterns and colours with mathematic precision and using watercolours to endow them with a translucent splendour.
Dana Awartani’s videos have titles straight out of the collected works of Tracey Emin. “I went away and forgot you. A while ago I remembered. I remembered I’d forgotten you. I was dreaming, 2017” is one such. She too takes Islamic geometry as a starting point, but meshes it with performance, making disturbing connections between the sacred and the contemporary.

“What was interesting for me is that I was able to refine my practice during my fine art master’s program. I was able to see more clearly the links within my body of work – and now I see my work as a form of anthropology, studying the ethnography and culture of my country and society. My work also helped me identify with my national identity on a more profound level.” This evolution led her to the current focus of Alamoudi’s work, exploring the links between the ancient and modern.

“Saudi is the fastest-evolving society I have been to,” the formerly Jeddah-based artist Aya Haidar told artnet News. “The levels of creativity, from underground poetry slams to rooftop book fairs…. Everyday change is owned by the people.” The changes, she says, are part of a “bottom-up process that is forcing the formal structures ‘up top’ to listen and adapt toward a modern-day Saudi.”
 
The new Misk Art Institute is planning an art center in Riyadh, an Arab art festival in New York in October, and an educational exchange program that will send Saudi artists to California. Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman first tapped Ahmed Mater, one of Saudi’s best-known artists, to head up the institute about a year and a half ago.
 
 

Opening on Thursday, February 8th, at 7:30pm, Athr presents “The Clocks Are Striking Thirteen”, a group exhibition, as part of 21,39 Jeddah Arts. The participating artists are Aya Haidar, Ayman Yossri, Dana Awartani, Larissa Sansour, Maha Nasrallah, Moath Alofi, Mohammed Abdelrasoul, Mohammed Al Faraj, Mohammed Monaiseer, Muhannad Shono, Nasser Al Salem, Reem Al Nasser, Sara Abdu, Tamara Al Samerai, Wael Shawky and Zahra Al Ghamdi. The exhibition is curated by Maya El Khalil.

21,39 is back for its fifth edition under the theme 'Refusing To Be Still' and will show across multiple venues in Jeddah from 7 February to 5 May.
Featuring over 30 Saudi and international artists, this year’s edition of  21,39  takes a fresh look at the growing Saudi contemporary art landscape. Taking place across three venues, the main group exhibition  Refusing To Be Still  will be held at the Gold Moor Mall, Rubat Al Khunji and an empty PepsiCo factory. A second group exhibition is hosted at  ATHR  gallery entitled  The Clocks Are Striking Thirteen , while a third exhibition will showcase works by Ahmed Mater in  Drum Roll, Please  at  King Abdullah Economic City . A diverse offering of family activities, book launches and trips are also scheduled.

Contemporary Collective, a group of Saudi curators which aims to bring communities together through art, will present its first exhibition “We Are Not Alone” from Oct. 17 till Nov. 16, 2017, at ATHR gallery, Jeddah. The curators have selected works from the British Council’s art collection that they feel will help viewers lift their thoughts away from their daily lives and think differently about how they approach the unknown. They especially want to engage audiences of all ages in the Kingdom to share the message that creativity can help them overcome their fears and anxieties.

The exhibition, curated by Jared Steffensen of UMOCA, features works by established and emerging Saudi artists such as Abdullah AlOthman, Abdulnasser Gharem, Ahmed Mater, Arwa Alneami, Nugamshi, Dana Awartani, Ghada Al Rabea, Khalid Bin Afif, Khalid Zahid, Lina Gazzaz, Moath Alofi, Musaed Al Hulis, Nasser Al Salem, Nouf Alhimiary, Qamar Abdulmalik, Rashed Al Shashai, Telfaz11, Yusef Alahmad and Balqis AlRashed, who is the first international artist to do a residency at UMOCA.
“This exhibition examines the parallels between spiritual and urban cultures in Saudi Arabia and Utah, especially the symbolism of creativity that connects cities of pilgrimage in both places. Since the 7th Century, the holy cities of Makkah and Medina have drawn millions of Muslim pilgrims every year to worship at the holiest sites in Islam. Salt Lake City was established nearly a thousand years later by Mormon pioneers in search of a safe haven for their newly established religion. Members of the Church of Latter Day Saints also make a twice-annual pilgrimage of the faithful to the General Conference at Temple Square — the spiritual centre of the Mormon faith,” Steffensen says.



“The artists featured in this show are engaged in looking at the struggles and transformations of their society and delving into complex issues that link Utah and Saudi Arabia, such as oil, pilgrimage and tension surrounding commercial development around important cultural and religious heritage sites. 

Jeddah’s art scene is seeing a rich flow of exhibitions and events that shed light on work from local and regional artists. The 21,39 art initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting art and culture, has combined a series of events that began this month and will carry on until May, with support from the General Entertainment Authority. One of the highlights of the activities is “And Along Came Polyester,” which gathers the work of five women artists from the Gulf to showcase their contemporary work in solo exhibitions under the same roof at Athr Gallery.
Arab News spoke to the five artists about their experiences at the “And Along Came Polyester” exhibition.