A liminal space: The soft power of Saudi’s growing art scene

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Basmah Felemban’s work takes a closer look at the journey of a species of fish from their own home to the Najd desert. (Abdulrahman Shalhoub)
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Updated 18 November 2022
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A liminal space: The soft power of Saudi’s growing art scene

  • In this time of great change in Saudi Arabia, and an age of technology, the Kingdom might show us whether art still has the power to influence and shape societies

RIYADH: Art has been known throughout history to reflect, or even elicit, social, cultural and artistic change in cultures. The Renaissance period in Europe beginning in the 14th century, for example, or India’s Bengali Renaissance in the 19th century.

Now, Saudi Arabia, a country that was founded only 90 years ago and is currently undergoing a period of great transformation under its Vision 2030 diversification and development program, finds itself in a liminal, or transitional, space bordered on one side by historical behaviorism and on the other by the dawn of the future. As such, one can only wonder if the Kingdom’s experience will show us whether, in an age of technology, art still has the power to truly influence our societies?

In common with many other aspects of Saudi society, the arts sector is experiencing a period of rapid development and growth. Thanks to the establishment of a variety of arts festivals, increased government funding, the launch of exhibitions, and the introduction of public art installations, the country is slowly embracing, or rediscovering, its own local, traditional art forms, creating new ones, and opening the door to cultural-exchange opportunities by hosting exhibitions of international art.

The second annual Noor Riyadh festival of light illuminated the streets of Riyadh this month, for example. Staged under the auspices of Riyadh Art under the theme “We Dream of New Horizons,” this year’s event was three times bigger than the inaugural festival in 2021, with works by more than 120 local and international artists on display in public spaces at 40 locations across the city.

Architect Khalid Al-Hazani, Riyadh Art’s program director, said the festival aims to create joyful experiences for the people of Riyadh by highlighting the beauty of their city’s natural landscapes and cityscapes.

“The reality of Noor Riyadh 2022 is that through a sense of wonder, the artists are exploring the use of illumination, luminosity and their own encounters with materials as staging relations to otherness and hope in the form of light,” Al-Hazani told Arab News.

The festival therefore looks to a more hopeful future after the trauma caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It imagines a city without borders, art without frames and poses a crucial question: Who is Noor Riyadh for?

“Our main purpose is to reach the widest audience possible, going beyond traditional art audiences to the wider public,” Al-Hazani said.

During this period of transformation in Saudi society, contemporary artists throughout the country are seizing the opportunity to slowly normalize certain ideas that were previously considered controversial by societal standards.

Saudi artist Daniah Al-Saleh said her first exposure to contemporary art was in the early 1990s during a visit to the Venice Biennale. After an undergraduate education in Riyadh that exposed her only to classical, impressionist and modern art, she said she was enlightened by the malleability of artistic expression.

“That just opened doors for me and made me reflect and think about what art can be,” she told Arab News.

Her own artistic practice often utilizes aspects of computing and machine learning to translate abstract ideas into reality. She said she aims to push the boundaries with artworks and installations that combine traditional forms of art such as paintings, with more innovative content such as computer programming code.

One of Al-Saleh’s installations at Noor Riyadh, “Love Stories,” is on display at Oud Square in the city’s Diplomatic Quarter. It examines the traditional resistance to public displays of love and affection in conservative societies.

“There’s this tension and double standard between the things that we know are okay in songs and poetry but not okay in real life,” she said.

Her artwork is comprised of multiple figures, generated by artificial intelligence and projected onto pillars, that lip sync to 26 well-known Arabic love songs that feature lyrics about public declarations of feelings of love. Al-Saleh said the reaction to the work was unexpected.

“I saw people, non Saudis, sitting and smiling, because I translated the lyrics in English,” she said. “For me, as an artist, to see people sitting by an installation for more than five or 10 minutes, it’s a huge deal.

“For the Arab population, they sat and sang with these AI characters; you see them smiling … it’s such a powerful feeling and brings people and communities together.”

Al-Saleh’s second installation at Noor Riyadh, “Delicate,” which is on display in the Jax District, considers ideas of hierarchy and inequality through a skeptical eye. Inspired by the words of Adrienne Maree Brown in her book “Emerging Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds,” the artwork is based on biomimicry: The process of emulating natural elements to solve global problems.

Al-Saleh’s mixed-media work was created using wood, wool, digital computations, paper, canvas and one of the world’s oldest materials, felt, all of which work together, she said, to create a suspended ecosystem of beauty and self-sustainability.

Saudi artist Bashaer Hawsawi said the first step toward bigger changes in attitudes toward art in a society is to encourage greater public engagement with the local art scene.

“The simplest form is photographs of pieces of art on social media,” she said. “It’ll spread around, people will see that this is happening, they’ll talk, ask and want to know more.”

Hawsawi’s work “Early Ripening” adds a private angle to public art. It portrays methods of pickling lemons and was inspired by her own early memories of watching her mother carrying out the process. She said the work aims to highlight the simplicity of everyday tasks in public spaces but also the substantial role they play in local culture. Scattered across the landscape of Wadi Hanifa, the artwork uses fiberglass lemons to depict the pickling process, the products of which are used in some Saudi communities as tonic to aid recovery.

Saudi artist Basmah Felemban told Arab News: “We’re in an interesting position where all of us should talk about all of our experiences, away from necessarily any forced discourse from the international conversations that are happening.”

Felemban’s works explore ideas of ethnicity, immigration and cultural origins, topics traditionally rarely discussed publicly in the region. She said she hopes to spark conversations and answer questions about her own history.

In her work “The Eleventh View of Time,” the viewer observes, through projected images at Wadi Hanifa’s Ringing Bird Lake, the journey undertaken by another species, which has parallels with the artist’s own story of immigration, ethnicity and ancestry, stretching from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia,.

Conversations about cultural diversity are more common in the West, and the artist believes that the Middle East needs to develop its own ways to address these topics “that adhere to our historical backgrounds.”

With the aim of helping to transform the art world from a perceived image of elitism to populism, the artworks at Noor Riyadh are designed to present new ideas and spark cultural discourse on a local and global scale.

“Good art inspires but great art activates,” said contributing Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde.

His artwork “Waterleight,” on display at Salam Park, uses a captivating and mysterious laser show to call attention to the effects of climate change. It shows the potential global results of rising sea levels, against the backdrop of plans for a greener, more sustainable future under Vision 2030.

His native Netherlands, he said, would already be underwater without the application of technology, science and creativity.

“The world is changing, so we have to somehow adapt … I think it’s important to realize that we have to invent, imagine and create that new world — it doesn’t happen by itself — (and) learn from the mistakes that we’ve made,” Roosegaarde said.

Cultural exchange is a crucial element in an evolving art scene, according to renowned artist and lighting designer Marc Brickman, who served as a consultant on the plans for the landmark Al-Faisaliyah building 24 years ago.

Now, he has created a 2,000-drone light show that uses science and technology to encourage us to question our need for order in a chaotic world.

“I think art throughout the ages has always been the leading element because it deals with people’s imaginations and the way they think,” Brickman said.

“And a lot of times they’ve tried to stamp it out and conform it but it always rises back to the top.”


Saudi Arabia ‘categorically rejects’ Israel’s plan to seize Gaza territory

Updated 08 May 2025
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Saudi Arabia ‘categorically rejects’ Israel’s plan to seize Gaza territory

  • Israeli authorities on Monday approved plans to take over territory and forcibly displace population
  • Kingdom’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemns Israel’s violations of international law

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has “categorically rejected” plans by Israel to expand its military operations in Gaza and seize control of the territory.

The ministry also “strongly condemned the continued Israeli violations of international law and international humanitarian law.”

Israeli authorities on Monday approved a new ground operation to take over parts of Gaza, forcibly displace Palestinians into the south of the territory, and control the distribution of humanitarian aid. The Israeli army is calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers.

The announcement sparked widespread international condemnation. Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry said it stood firmly opposed to any attempted expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, and stressed the importance of holding Israel accountable for failures to comply with international resolutions.

The Kingdom continues to have “unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, in line with international legitimacy, the Arab Peace Initiative, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with east Jerusalem as its capital,” the ministry added.


Saudi project destroys 600 more Houthi landmines and other explosives in Yemen

Updated 07 May 2025
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Saudi project destroys 600 more Houthi landmines and other explosives in Yemen

  • The devices, cleared from various parts of the war-torn country in recent months, were safely detonated on Wednesday
  • Project Masam has removed nearly 500,000 mines across Yemen since its launch in 2018

RIYADH: Members of the Saudi Project for Landmine Clearance, also known as Project Masam, safely detonated 600 mines, unexploded ordnance and other explosive devices on Wednesday.

The project’s engineers had demined and removed the devices over the past few months from various parts of Yemen, including the town of Beihan and the districts of Usaylan and Ain in Shabwah governorate.

Hussein Al-Aqili, commander of the project’s survey team, said they carried out the destruction operation in the Thahba area of Ain district on Wednesday as part of their ongoing mission to clear mines and other remnants of war in Yemen, and save civilian lives.

The project has cleared nearly 500,000 mines from the country since its work there began in 2018.

Last week, Ousama Algosaibi, the managing director of Masam, warned that the Houthis continue to exploit periods of truce to plant more mines across Yemen.

“We are in a constant race with the Houthi militias; we clear mines from one side while they plant more on the other,” he said during an interview with Al-Ekhbariya TV.


Saudi ambassador meets Bahrain King’s media affairs adviser

Updated 07 May 2025
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Saudi ambassador meets Bahrain King’s media affairs adviser

Saudi Ambassador to Bahrain Naif bin Bandar Al-Sudairi was received by Nabeel bin Yacoub Al-Hamer, media affairs adviser to the King of Bahrain, in Manama on Wednesday.

The adviser expressed his pride in the solid fraternal relations and deep-rooted historical ties that bind the two countries, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

He also wished Al-Sudairi continued success in his duties, which will further support and strengthen the fraternal ties, mutual coordination, and close cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in various fields, and particularly in the media.


 


Saudi commission expands music access for people with disabilities

Updated 07 May 2025
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Saudi commission expands music access for people with disabilities

  • Push for accessible arts programming reflects wider goals for social development

MAKKAH: Saudi Arabia’s Music Commission has launched a national initiative to expand access to music education for people with disabilities, marking a key step toward their greater inclusion in the Kingdom’s cultural landscape.

Focused on Riyadh, Jeddah and Alkhobar, the program trains instructors to teach students with physical and cognitive disabilities.

It supports the ambitions of Saudi Vision 2030, which seeks to elevate quality of life and ensure opportunities for all segments of society.

Music education expert Issa Al-Qarbi praised the initiative as a transformative step in supporting individuals with disabilities.

“Music is a highly effective medium for stimulating brain activity, developing motor and social skills, and enhancing overall psychological well-being,” he said.

The initiative includes adapting teaching methods, specialized curricula and fully accessible learning environments aligned with the requirements of the Mowaamah certification, a program which provides support to increase participation among disabled individuals in the labor market.

In designing the program, the commission partnered with international experts in music on the curricula and programs that align with global best practices.

The existing models were reviewed using the standards set by the National Association for Music Education.

The commission’s goal is to empower students to express themselves through music, boost their self-confidence and enhance their social, cognitive and motor skills.

The students will receive extended training that prepares them for group performances while supporting their artistic, cognitive and social development. Sessions with parents and community members are also being planned to raise awareness and encourage family engagement.

Al-Qarbi said that long-term sustainability and lasting impacts could be ensured by closer partnerships between the education and healthcare sectors.

He praised the initiative as a regional model, opening the door to further research and innovation.

He said that teaching music to individuals with disabilities went beyond technical skills, nurturing essential personal qualities such as patience, discipline and social engagement, which in turn positively influenced many areas of their lives.


Saudi surgeons separate Egyptian child from parasitic twin

Updated 07 May 2025
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Saudi surgeons separate Egyptian child from parasitic twin

  • Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah says operation is one of the most delicate carried out by his team
  • Procedure takes 8 hours and involves multidisciplinary team of 26 consultants

RIYADH: A medical team from the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program successfully completed a surgical procedure on Wednesday to separate an Egyptian child from a parasitic twin.

The operation on 8-month-old Mohammed Abdulrahman Juma at King Abdullah Specialist Children’s Hospital in Riyadh took eight hours and was split into six stages. It involved a multidisciplinary team of 26 consultants, including specialists in anesthesia, neurosurgery, pediatrics and plastic surgery.

A parasitic twin, also known as a vestigial twin, is an identical twin that stopped developing during gestation and is physically attached to a fully developed twin. Because it did not fully develop, it cannot survive on its own and often dies in the womb or during birth.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, who heads the surgical team and is an advisor at the royal court and supervisor general of Saudi aid agency KSrelief, said the twins were joined at the back, lower chest, abdomen and pelvis. The parasitic twin lacked a head and essential organs, including a heart and kidneys.

Al-Rabeeah described the operation as one of the most delicate his team has been involved with, and thanked his colleagues for their efficiency and skill during the surgery, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Mohammed and his parents flew to Saudi Arabia in March after King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman issued directives for medics in the Kingdom to help the child.

The operation on Wednesday was the 63rd separation procedure carried out under the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program, which has reviewed 149 cases of patients from 27 countries since its inception in 1990.