British historian explores Nabateans’ ‘cool culture’ in documentary 

JEDDAH:  Currently situated under the expansive canopies outside Jeddah’s Western Hajj Terminal is “On Weaving,” the winning design of the inaugural AlMusalla Prize — an international award for the design of a musalla, a place for prayer and contemplation that is open to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.  

The winners of the inaugural edition of the award — which is part of the Diriyah Islamic Arts Biennale — are a collective including Dubai and Beirut-based EAST Architecture Studio, structural engineer Christopher Blust from AKT II, and Beirut- and San Francisco-based artist Rayyane Tabet. They designed a modular structure inspired by regional weaving traditions and constructed from sustainable local materials such as date palm waste and palm fronds and fibers. The space was immediately popular with visitors during the opening days of the biennale, with many heading inside to one of the smaller rooms to pray.  

A summary of “On Weaving” on the biennale website states: “The double-sided pedestal is staggering in its ascent and thinning out as it reaches towards the sky. Its form resembles a loom, paying homage to tangible and intangible cultural heritage of weaving traditions and craftsmanship. It is autonomous, but also modular to suggest multiple uses — acting as structure, function, and ornament. The earthy colors that make up the musalla’s exterior are energized with color within the structure’s interior, where natural dyes made from local and regional plants are used to create bright reds, blues, greens and yellows. The musalla’s open courtyard invites visitors to sit, gather or pray, individually or communally.”  

“The brief for the competition called for a collaborative team that brings together an architect, an artist, and a structural engineer and fabrication expert,” Nicolas Fayad, co-founder of EAST Architecture Studio, told Arab News. “From the very first moment, we worked together conceptually and philosophically on what it means to build a musalla today — knowing that musallas, unlike mosques, are largely nomadic in nature; they were built by Bedouins in the desert (and could be) moved from one place to another.” 

So Fayad and his collaborators set out to create a structure that could easily be assembled, disassembled and rebuilt elsewhere (indeed, after the biennale ends on May 25, it will be moved to another location). It features an open central courtyard and prayer spaces and somewhat resembles a loom, addressing ideas of togetherness and proximity — core tenets of prayer in Islam. The façades were created by weaving together palm fronds and fibers, and the gaps let in natural light, as well as allowing the musalla to be incorporated into its surroundings. 

“Our musalla looks at the legacy of cultural typologies in spaces of worship, coupled with weaving as a craft,” Fayad explained. “(It also serves) as a structural performance that uses local material — most importantly, waste that comes from a natural material. We have identified throughout our research that there’s a lot of waste that comes from palm trees in Saudi Arabia.” 

The modular structure used engineered, glue-laminated palm-wood composite, which is the product of the waste of 150 palm trees — proof of the ability to use local, sustainable materials to create lasting architectural structures. 

What is so striking about the structure is not just the materials used to make it and the way in which it was created, but the literal and metaphorical tribute the structure pays to weaving.  

“On Weaving,” Fayad explained, is a metaphor for creativity and a reference to a material culture long dominant in the region,” adding that the design of the space readapts the narrative of woven textile as both an art and a functional design element. 

Weaving is itself a meditative ritual, of course, so here it serves as both an important part of the design process while also reflecting spirituality and the cultural heritage of the Kingdom and the wider Gulf region. 

“(We are presenting) the idea of weaving not only as a craft or as a way of making, but also as a way of holding art, architecture and engineering together as part of a continuous tradition,” said Fayad.  

RIYADH: The travelling exhibition of Saudi contemporary art, “Art of the Kingdom: Poetic Illuminations,” 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.  

Curator Diana Wechsler told Arab News: “Few people know what is happening in the artistic field in Saudi Arabia. Information circulates — everywhere and about any topic — in a very fragmented way and this affects the image that people have of a country or a society.”  

The show’s Rio debut, she said, was a great success. “Why? 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.”  

Wechsler carried out exhaustive research when selecting the featured artists. She visited workshops, conducted interviews, and explored the artists’ cultural references. 

“From this research emerged the concept of ‘poetic illuminations,’ which shows how art is capable of participating in a cultural tradition and, at the same time, forms part of the present,” she said. “The exhibition — and, in particular, the selected artists — 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.” 

There are certain elements of Saudi culture that run through the exhibition. Perhaps the most powerful, Wechsler suggested, is the image of the desert, which “appears in different ways in practically all the selected artists’ works.”  

Another theme is the tension between the past and the present. “The imagination of the future is found in these artists,” Wechsler said. “This is one of the most fascinating aspects offered to me by the exploration of the Saudi artistic and cultural (scene).”  

The Riyadh exhibition will feature newly created site-specific works as well as some pieces from the Ministry of Culture’s collection. Its main challenge is to adapt to the local public, who will have a better understanding of the culture explored by the artists.  

“In 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,” said Wechsler. “The 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.”  

As Saudi artists continue to face new frontiers, through this exhibition and their growing prominence in the global art sphere, it is necessary, Wechsler believes, “to 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.” 

The 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.