In its third edition, BIENALSUR, the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of the South, will once again travel to Saudi Arabia, where it is hosted by the Saudi Ministry of Culture, to present  BIENALSUR…Echoes: A World Between the Analogue and the Virtual  at Qasr Khuzam, a historic palace transformed into a museum in the port city of Jeddah.
Curated by the Artistic Director of BIENALSUR, Diana Wechsler, the exhibition includes more than 20 artists from 13 countries, including Ahaad Alamoudi, Darren Almond, Dania Alsaleh, Joël Andrianomearisoa, Hugo Aveta, Cécile Bart, Daniel Canogar, Tanja Deman, Sève Favre, Lina Gazzaz, Gabriela Golder, Chris Larson, Anaïs Lelièvre, Sujin Lim, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Valérie Jouve, Angelika Markul, Marín Matilde, Filwa Nazer, Tony Oursler, and Muhannad Shono.

يستضيف غاليري "أثر" في مدينة جدة حتى 10 من يناير (كانون الثاني) المقبل، معرضين فرديين لكل من عبدالعزيز الرشيدي وناصر السالم، وهما اثنان من فناني الخط العربي البارزين في السعودية. يتشارك كل من الرشيدي والسالم في سعيهما نحو استكشاف آفاق جديدة لفن الخط، والتعامل مع الحرف كمفردة جمالية وفنية معبرة وذات خصوصية
يعرض عبدالعزيز الرشيدي أعماله تحت عنوان "درب"، ويضم مجموعة متنوعة من التشكيلات الخطية التي أنجزها أخيراً. ويعيش الرشيدي ويعمل في المدينة المنورة، ونادراً ما يتركها، فهي تعيش فيه بقدر ما يعيش فيها، وهو يجد السلام بداخله في زاويته المنعزلة، ويتحدث على نحو خاص مع الخط بإصرار، محاولاً الانتقال به إلى أبعاد جديدة والتقدم نحو مسارات لم يسبقه إليها أحد
تلقى الرشيدي تعليمه على أيدي معلمين عظماء من بينهم عادل بري وأحمد ضياء. كما التقى معلمين آخرين خلال تلك الفترة، من بينهم شفيق زمان ومحمد بشير وعبدالعزيز مصطفى نجاة الدين. وفي قسم الفنون بجامعة الملك عبدالعزيز في المدينة المنورة، درس الرشيدي فن الزخرفة الإسلامية بالخط الكوفي على يد مصطفى عبدالرحيم، حتى استقر في البحر الواسع لحسن المسعودي

The artists will work in collaboration with the developers, archaeologists, anthropologists and agricultural experts already working in the space.
The cohort is likewise relatively diverse. The artists involved are Rashed AlShashai and Muhannad Shono from Saudi Arabia; French artists Sara Favriau and Laura Sellies; and two artists who live in the UAE – Syrian artist Talin Hazbar and Si Merabet. 
AlUla's artists' residency programme is likely to grow in the future, and will be determined by an international selection panel. For this pilot scheme, the three stakeholders are planning an exhibition of the artists’ work for later in the spring.
 

As part of the program of the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of the South (Bienalsur ) , born within the National University of Tres de Febrero, the young Saudi artist Ahaad Alamoudi exhibits at the Kirchner Cultural Center The  green  light  , a video installation focused on the ways in which information circulates and, at the same time, involves the subjects of a society.
"I love that the work is and can be seen in Argentina because -although it seems like a crazy dialogue- I think they are two cultures that have faced the need to understand different points of view," says the artist, only 30 years old, who grew up between England and Saudi Arabia and who today lives and works in Jeddah, the second largest city in her country, on the shores of the Red Sea.

The halls of Manarat Al Saadiyat have been repopulated with artists, gallerists, curators and visitors as Abu Dhabi Art returns to a physical format this year.
More than 600 artworks are on display in booths across three galleries in Manarat Al Saadiyat. 
Among the standout booths is Athr Gallery from Jeddah, showcasing ink on paper works by Yemeni artist Sara Abdu, collages by Saudi artist Mohammed Al Faraj and mixed media pieces by Lebanese-British artist Aya Haidar.
 

The tremendous support in recent years to enhance the Saudi culture sector and encourage creativity is part of the Ministry of Culture’s Cultural Vision Roadmap to create a vibrant society, a thriving economy, and an ambitious nation. The first group of cultural initiatives includes the Red Sea Film Festival, Ad-Diriyah Biennale, and annual contemporary art exhibitions such as Athr art gallery and 21’39 Jeddah Arts. These initiatives allow the community to engage in rich cultural experiences by engaging in intellectually stimulating dialogue and other professional interactions.

The fairs, exhibitions and auctions of “Frieze Week” are in-person events once more. But the art world has changed, and so has Britain.
“Focus” section, devoted to 35 younger galleries, dealers were also showing pieces that made visitors stop and think. The Saudi Arabian gallery Athr displayed “Eagle,” a provocative sculpture by the Riyadh-based artist Ahmet Mater realistically modeled as a missile-laden “Predator” drone, covered in sand.

Misk Art Institute (MAI), the leading non-profit cultural institution dedicated to empowering the growth of a thriving creative community in Saudi Arabia, presents Here, Now / هنا، الآن. This exhibition is the third in a series of annual flagship exhibitions in which MAI collaborates with a curator on the central theme of Misk Art Week 2021, the Institute’s annual celebratory event. Here, Now / هنا، الآن is curated by British critic and writer Sacha Craddock, working in close partnership with MAI’s assistant curators Alia Ahmad Al Saud and Nora Algosaibi. 
Through interactive maze-like stacked sculptures Saudi-Palestinian artist Ayman Yossri Daydban’s Three House deconstructs archetypal narratives related to cultural heritage and identity, as well as the region’s historical relation to Western colonial powers. Working with a logic that grows out of the arbitrary nature of words and language, Daydban’s work insists on the existence of the material that remains after function or meaning have moved on.

Located in the Rawda area of Jeddah is the home of Mohammed Hafiz, art collector and co-founder of Athr Gallery , a space set up in 2009 to support emerging and established artists from Saudi Arabia. A step inside reveals some of the Kingdom’s biggest names: Ahmed Mater, Abdulnasser Gharem, Larissa Sansour, Timo Nasseri and many, many more. There’s an inviting ambience that one feels immediately as they enter – it’s as if the artworks themselves greet guests. “It all started when I began collecting art,” says Mohammed.
“As a collector, the way I always bought the work, especially the ones that qualified to be hung in the house have a very special story and connection behind them,” says Mohammed. “Each work is connected to me in some way, representing a special moment of my life. I look at the art every day and they bring back the most wonderful memories.
 

Through the use of pigment and vibration, the artist studies what he deems “the crisis of the word.” In each work Muhannad grinds hardened charcoal words to dust and then employs vibrations from inaudible spectrums of sound to result in the new “words” – undefined black pigment forms – on paper.
Muhannad’s depictions on paper are the result of the artist’s inquiry into the shifting states of storytelling that occupy contemporary society. He believes that human beings have a tendency to place faith in stories and myths, drawing us to the construction of our present, past and future worlds. Such exploration stems from the artist’s “imagined state of being.” It’s a state that is devoid of time and place and that simply exists. In many ways, it also frees the artist from his own sense of displacement.
 
 

I see myself wearing many hats, so I think the defining moment in the art field was when I had my first exhibition , Doors of Barlik with Athr Gallery in 2016, and a career-defining moment in the exhibition and art-management fields was when I got appointed by His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Salman as the director of Madinah Art Center.
 

“The role of collectors is essential to art movements and culture, both in Saudi Arabia and internationally,” says Hamza Serafi, a self-taught artist and co-founder of Jeddah’s Athr Gallery , one of the country’s leading cultural and commercial art spaces. “Collectors play a massive role in the world of contemporary art.”
The Kingdom’s art scene is undeniably flourishing with the support from the government, at an unprecedented rate. “We are experiencing and living through one of the most current movements which covers the whole spectrum.” Like neighbouring Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia is investing heavily in the arts and culture sector, building new museums and hosting exhibitions and events to encourage a whole new generation of art lovers.