{"id":53439,"date":"2025-02-20T07:02:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T07:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/art-of-the-kingdom-exhibition-arrives-in-riyadh-after-brazil-debut\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T07:02:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T07:02:00","slug":"art-of-the-kingdom-exhibition-arrives-in-riyadh-after-brazil-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=53439","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Art of the Kingdom\u2019 exhibition arrives in Riyadh\u00a0after Brazil debut"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tRIYADH:\u00a0The travelling exhibition of Saudi contemporary art, \u201cArt of the Kingdom: Poetic Illuminations,\u201d will open at the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art on Feb. 24 following its successful debut in Rio de Janeiro, where it had more than 26,000 visitors. The show includes works by 17 prominent Saudi artists.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tCurator Diana Wechsler told Arab News: \u201cFew people know what is happening in the artistic field in Saudi Arabia. Information circulates \u2014 everywhere and about any topic \u2014 in a very fragmented way and this affects the image that people have of a country or a society.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Detail from Sarah Abuabdallah’s and Ghada Al Hassan’s ‘Horizontal Dimensions.’ (Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe show\u2019s Rio debut, she said, was a great success. \u201cWhy? Because it opened up views and perspectives, it surprised colleagues, specialists in art history and contemporary art, as well as surprising and greatly interesting the general public. It must also be said that the artists and works of art selected are very interesting and powerful and, at the same time, quite different from other contemporary proposals.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWechsler carried out exhaustive research when selecting the featured artists. She visited workshops, conducted interviews, and explored the artists\u2019 cultural references.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0Works from ‘The Art of the Kingdom – Poetic Illuminations’ in Rio de Janeiro last year. (Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cFrom this research emerged the concept of \u2018poetic illuminations,\u2019 which shows how art is capable of participating in a cultural tradition and, at the same time, forms part of the present,\u201d she said. \u201cThe exhibition \u2014 and, in particular, the selected artists \u2014 are part of the process and continuity of a dynamic construction of cultural identity, with a great commitment to their roots and, at the same time, with an interesting contemporary perspective.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThere are certain elements of Saudi culture that run through the exhibition. Perhaps the most powerful, Wechsler suggested, is the image of the desert, which \u201cappears in different ways in practically all the selected artists\u2019 works.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tAnother theme is the tension between the past and the present. \u201cThe imagination of the future is found in these artists,\u201d Wechsler said. \u201cThis is one of the most fascinating aspects offered to me by the exploration of the Saudi artistic and cultural (scene).\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Riyadh exhibition will feature newly created site-specific works as well as some pieces from the Ministry of Culture\u2019s collection. Its main challenge is to adapt to the local public, who will have a better understanding of the culture explored by the artists.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIn Rio the challenge was to show how Saudi Arabia manages its cultural processes and how artists work between different pasts and presents. In Riyadh, the situation is different,\u201d said Wechsler. \u201cThe challenge is to capture the attention of the public and reflect on their cultural traditions from a current perspective. I think this is one of the objectives of contemporary art in general.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0Muhannad Shono’s ‘The Ground Day Breaks.’ (Supplied)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAs Saudi artists continue to face new frontiers, through this exhibition and their growing prominence in the global art sphere, it is necessary, Wechsler believes, \u201cto be attentive to the experiences of contemporary life, to be able to contribute their perspective to point out invisible aspects, to highlight imaginary dimensions which, as we know, are often those that allow us to think about the present from a new perspective.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Riyadh show will run until April 25 before the exhibition makes its way to the National Museum in China, marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Saudi-Chinese diplomatic relations.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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