One of Athr Gallery’s developers, Adnan Manjal, said that their aim is “to expose the portfolio of unique and talented artists to the rest of the world, beyond the boarder of the Middle East”. Manjal added about Athr’s participation in London’s International Art’13, “even though the Middle East is a crucial point of focus for the gallery, Europe is equally important as we strongly believe our artists are of the same calibre and yet unique… Although Athr Gallery has collaborated with London-based galleries on several exhibitions in the past, Art’13 was a perfect platform to introduce Athr Gallery’s artists to the London’s art fairs.”

In Art’13, Athr Gallery has presented a solo exhibition of the Palestinian artist Hazem Hareb’s series “Inside-Outside”, “Me and the Other Half” and the video installation “Impossible Travel”, which consisted of beautiful conceptual photos that expressed his protest against the deterioration of the quality of life in Palestine.

This panel discussion focused on the emergence of contemporary art practice in Saudi Arabia and the challenges of making art and exhibiting it.

The Middle Eastern galleries selected for the initiative include Athr Gallery, Saudi Arabia and Lawrie Shabibi, UAE. Athr Gallery, located in Jeddah, will stage a solo presentation of a Palestinian artist’s work at London First. Hazem Harb will explore themes including war, loss, trauma, human vulnerability and global instability through his multi-media, conceptual works, ranging from large-scale paintings through to digital photography and video.

Athr Gallery from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, will be participating at this year's inaugural ART13 fair in London from March 1st to 3rd. The fair is a brand-new event that aims to reflect the shifting dynamics of the art world through engaging with emerging art hubs, galleries and artists worldwide, being a great platform for ATHR. They'll be bringing a solo booth to the 'London First' programme stand, featuring the work of acclaimed Palestinian multi-media artist Hazem Harb. Harb will be showing "Impossible Travel, Me and the Other Half & Inside-Outside", a presentation involving conceptual images of a hypothetical wall standing in his home country Palestine.