Out of Place

Athr Gallery is pleased to announce its group exhibition Out of Place. The exhibition marks the gallery’s ten-year anniversary. To celebrate this date, Athr Gallery is organizing manifold events involving its annual participation in 21’39, with the group show Out of Place, as well as two solo shows by Zahrah AlGhamdi and Ayman Zedani. The group show’s proceeds will go towards funding and partnering with international residencies with the support of individual Saudi patrons, to seven artists selected through an open call process and by an independent selection committee, with the aim of providing experiences most transformative to their creative practices in conducive settings.

Out of Place represents the works of the 14 artists that have participated in international residencies such as the; Bethanien, Berlin; Al Mansouria Atelier at Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris; Devon Projects, Huntly; Artists-in-Labs, Zurich; among others. Providing platforms away from the artist’s familiar context of his studio and hometown, residencies allow artists that are starved for time and space, to be immersed in situations and encounters that have the potential to powerfully impact their way of seeing and producing.

To advocate for artists’ residencies is to affirm that such a creative setting is essential to the well-being of artists and in the development of their practice. The works presented in the group show are the outcome of each artist’s distinct and singular explorations during their time spent in different cities and environments, for some enabling existing ideas to take unexpected form, for others triggering a whole new set of concepts and processes.

Since its inception in Jeddah in 2009, Athr Gallery has played a pivotal role in building the Contemporary art scene in Saudi; valuing experimentation and the exploration of new ideas, disseminating the artists’ role in the creative process and the impact they can have on societies. As a relentless supporter of young as well as established artists from Saudi Arabia and the Arab region, Athr has been providing a number of opportunities for furthering knowledge and experience within its multidisciplinary space in Jeddah and beyond, such as international residencies, special commissions, international group exhibitions, symposia, funding and more.

Partner Residencies to the open call are: 
Residency Unlimited, New York; ISCP, New York; Can Serrat, Barcelona; Bethanien, Berlin;  Al Mansouria Atelier at Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris; Beirut Art Residency, Beirut.

Participating artists:
Ahaad Alamoudi, Ahmed Mater, Aya Haidar, Ayman Yossri Daydban, Dana Awartani, Ibrahim Abumsmar, Moath Alofi, Mohamed Monaiseer, Muhannad Shono, Nasser Al Salem, Reem Al Nasser, Sara Abdu, Sarah Abu Abdullah,  Ziad Antar