Arab Week at UNESCO to showcase rich culture, heritage
Event will showcase the diversity of Arab cultural heritage and civilization while promoting intercultural dialogue and cultural development goals
Initiative reflects Saudi Arabia’s commitment to global engagement and received unanimous backing from Arab culture ministers at the ALECSO General Conference in May
Updated 23 October 2024
Arab News
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is organizing the inaugural Arab Week at UNESCO, set for Nov. 4-5 at its Paris headquarters.
This marks the first such event in more than 50 years of Arab-UNESCO relations, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
Supported by all Arab nations, the event will showcase the diversity of Arab cultural heritage and civilization while promoting intercultural dialogue and cultural development goals.
Organizing by Saudi Arabia’s National Commission for Education, Culture and Sciences, the event will highlight the Arab world’s artistic and literary traditions, creating a broad platform for cultural exchange.
The initiative reflects Saudi Arabia’s commitment to global engagement and received unanimous backing from Arab culture ministers at the ALECSO General Conference in May.
Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, minister of culture and chairman of the commission, has led the initiative, positioning Saudi Arabia as a key player in promoting regional and international cultural collaboration.
The program includes a marketplace for Arab cultural products, Arabic calligraphy exhibitions, UNESCO-listed heritage site displays, music, food demonstrations, traditional crafts, and fashion showcases.
Academic activities feature symposiums on novel writing, artificial intelligence, calligraphy, children’s literature, and poetry, alongside competitions and artist displays.
This event enhances Arab culture’s global standing, providing a platform to share its rich heritage and ideas while uniting Arab nations through shared values and contributing to global development.
Multidisciplinary art residency captures spirit of Jeddah’s Al-Balad
Bait Shouaib Residency brings together diverse creatives to reflect on ‘movement’ in historic district
Updated 01 February 2025
Afshan Aziz
JEDDAH: Athr Foundation’s Bait Shouaib Arts Residency in Al-Balad district brought together a filmmaker, curator and two artists, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration over an eight-week program.
The Moving Narratives cycle explored the theme of movement through diverse lenses and transformed the historic Bait Shouaib into an active participant in the creative process.
The exhibition, which was open last month as part of this year’s Islamic Arts Biennale, welcomed visitors to witness interpretations of Jeddah’s cultural and historical essence through contemporary art.
Hayfa Algwaiz created a site-specific mobile installation in Bait Shouaib’s stairwell, or minwar. (Supplied)
Residency director and senior program manager at Athr Foundation, Ibrahim Romman, highlighted the program’s impact and told Arab News: “Each resident’s exploration of ‘movement’ became an invitation to reflect on how stories, spaces and identities shift and intersect.
“Together, their work offered a richly layered response to the theme, presenting interdisciplinary perspectives that bridged the historical with the contemporary.”
Sudanese artist Rund Alarabi has created a poetic video installation bridging the cultural and architectural legacies of the port cities of Jeddah and Suakin, Sudan.
Vietnamese curator Nhat Q. Vo centered his project around Al-Shafi’i Mosque. (Supplied)
Her project delves into the undocumented and intangible aspects of collective memory. She told Arab News: “Living between Frankfurt, Khartoum and Jeddah has fed my practice with various materials and unraveled new ways of misunderstanding. This has led me to question what I consider to be given and rethink my understanding of global and local consensus.”
Featuring sensory elements such as soundscapes composed of everyday cooking utensils, her installation forges an intimate connection to cultural memory. “Sound and moving images act as vessels that challenge our understanding of reality. They highlight overlooked aspects of our existence by infiltrating beyond our preconceived assumptions,” she said.
Filmmaker Nada Al-Mojadedi drew inspiration from Hejazi folklore to craft an immersive narrative that seamlessly blends performance, textiles and moving images. Her dual-room installation transformed her studio into a theatrical set, inviting visitors to journey through time.
Sudanese artist Rund Alarabi’s video installation bridged the architectural legacies of the port cities of Jeddah and Suakin, Sudan. (Supplied)
Al-Mojadedi explained: “I wanted to blur the lines between performer and observer, offering an intimate reflection on identity and memory.”
Speaking about her approach to the theme, she added: “For me, movement transcends the physical; it embodies the unseen — a constant, evolving force of imagination, a ‘quantum dance’ through time and space. This concept guided my exploration of Hejazi folklore, where I intertwined heritage with newly crafted urban legends.
“Immersing myself in Al-Balad’s vibrant life and stories, and inspired by my connection to Bait Shouaib and a visiting butterfly, I created Haleema, a Hejazi urban legend inspired by the untold stories of women who once lived in these spaces.”
Reflecting on her creative process, Al-Mojadedi said: “My work layers the personal with the performative, reimagining space as both a site of storytelling and an active participant in the narrative. Being part of this residency was an enriching experience that allowed us to delve into the dynamic cultural tapestry of Al-Balad and contribute our individual narratives to its enduring story.”
Similarly, another artist, Nhat Q. Vo, a Vietnamese curator and cultural worker, explored the transient histories of Jeddah’s migrant worker communities, centering his project around Al-Shafi’i Mosque, a hub of cultural exchange.
“When I arrived in Al-Balad, I was drawn to its physical environment and the untold stories of the laborers who sustain Historic Jeddah. At first, the language barrier made it difficult to connect, but my discovery of Al-Shafi’i Mosque changed everything.
“The sight of people gathering for iftar, united by faith despite their differences, inspired me to represent their stories through their shared rituals rather than words.”
Speaking about how architecture informed his creative approach, he said: “Architecture became a vessel for these narratives, a place where diverse communities converge. Using over 70 meters of fabric to replace the plastic sufra at the mosque, I allowed the material to absorb the traces of shared meals and human connection.
“The fabric, marked by food crumbs, oil stains and creases, became a tangible record of collective memory. For me, the real inspiration comes from the people whose lives and routines shape the rich tapestry of these spaces.”
Riyadh-based artist and architect, Hayfa Algwaiz, has created a site-specific mobile installation in Bait Shouaib’s stairwell, or minwar, exploring the interplay between movement, space and architectural elements.
Activating the stairwell as a dynamic participant in her narrative, she said: “The subtle movement of the mobile mirrored the ephemeral qualities of light, air and transition experienced in Al-Balad. By focusing on a single element, I was able to honor the historic significance of the space while introducing contemporary artistic interpretations.”
Elaborating on her approach, she said: “As an artist and architect, I strive to bridge the past and the present by focusing on elements that connect them, such as the framed openings in historic structures like Bait Shouaib. These openings, adorned with intricate ornamentation, are constants that I deconstruct and reconstruct to reflect our contemporary times.
“In Saudi Arabia’s rapidly changing urban landscape, I aim to spark a dialogue around what should be preserved and what can evolve. By reinterpreting traditional materials, spatial layouts and ornamentation into modern expressions, I hope to honor our cultural identity while embracing the future.”
Animated by natural airflow, her installation reflects the residency’s ethos of bridging tradition with innovation.
“Architecture has the potential to transform into a living, breathing entity, and I sought to capture that essence,” she said.
1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair returns to Marrakech for sixth edition
30 exhibitors include galleries from Africa, Europe, India and for the first time, the Gulf
Updated 01 February 2025
Rebecca Anne Proctor
MARRAKECH: The sixth edition of the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair has returned to the opulent La Mamounia Hotel bringing together collectors and art aficionados from across Africa, the Middle East and Europe.
The smallest of the 1-54 fairs — which are also held in London and New York — the Marrakech edition, which opened on Jan. 30, presents a more intimate, upscale experience.
There is a great focus on establishing connections between the Marrakech art scene and greater Africa and its diaspora, the Middle East and Europe.
1-54 Marrakech 2025. (Courtesy Mohamed Lakhda)
Running until Feb. 2, the event is being held at both the La Mamounia Hotel and multidisciplinary art space DaDa, located within the famous bustling Jemaa El-Fnaa square and marketplace in the city’s Medina quarter.
The latter highlights predominantly art concepts from across Morocco whereas within the lavish halls of La Mamounia, both international and Moroccan galleries present works by local African and international artists.
“In this edition, there is a very good balance between African, international and local Moroccan galleries,” fair director and founder Touria El Glaoui, the daughter of the late celebrated Moroccan modernist painter Hassan El Glaoui, told Arab News.
1-54 Marrakech 2025. (Courtesy Mohamed Lakhda)
“This year presents 14 galleries from Africa … in addition to a gallery from Kuwait City, Tokyo, two galleries from Milan, and the Kalhath Foundation from Mumbai, India, presenting Moroccan artist Amina Benbouchta.”
Newcomers this year include Milan-based C+N Gallery CANEPANERI; space Un from Tokyo, Japan; and GALERIE FARAH FAKHRI from Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
Also represented for the first time will be Galerie Medina from Bamako, Mali; Hunna Art from Kuwait City, Kuwait; Le Violon Bleu Gallery from Sidi Bou Said in Tunis, Tunisia; and Rabat-based Abla Ababou Galerie.
1-54 Marrakech 2025. (Courtesy Mohamed Lakhda)
On view at Le Violon Bleu from Tunisia are also paintings by Hassan El Glaoui. The display marks the first time the artist’s works are exhibited at the fair.
The Gulf is represented this year through the debuting Hunna Art from Kuwait City.
In addition, a talk, titled “AlUla a New Laboratory for Contemporary Art,” will be delivered by French curator Arnaud Morand who has staged exhibitions and residencies for several years in the ancient Saudi Arabia desert region.
1-54 Marrakech 2025. (Courtesy Mohamed Lakhda)
Also from the Gulf will be a special performance titled “Le Miroir (Acte I)” by renowned artist Miles Greenberg, to be staged at the historic El-Badi Palace, commissioned by ICD Brookfield Place Arts Program in Dubai.
Since its launch in Morocco in 2018, 1-54 has grown into a global event bringing collectors, major art institutions and artists from across the world to Morocco.
The fair, as El Glaoui noted, is also building on Marrakech’s rich cultural and art scene which has been expanding over the years. Of note this year is the reopening of the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al-Maaden alongside numerous exhibitions and museum shows and performances.
“Marrakech has a strategic geographic location serving as a meeting point for audiences from the Middle East, Africa and the rest of the world,” said El Glaoui.
“Morocco has a vibrant art scene that has significantly grown over the years. I think between its auction houses, museums, private foundations and the various galleries we have in each city, it has become an important international contender for modern and contemporary art.”
Saudi artist Muhannad Shono to take part in California’s 2025 Desert X
Updated 31 January 2025
Arab News
DUBAI: Saudi artist Muhannad Shono has been selected to take part in the fifth edition of Desert X, the international site-specific art exhibition which will take place across California’s Coachella Valley from March 8 to May 11.
Produced by non-profit organization The Desert Biennial, the event will feature artistic talent from across Asia, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East.
Shono’s work, “What Remains,” explores the ever-changing nature of identity and land. (Supplied)
Curated by artistic director Neville Wakefield and co-curator Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas, the 2025 iteration will feature themes of temporality and nonlinear narratives of desert time.
Shono’s work, “What Remains,” explores the ever-changing nature of identity and land. The piece features long strips of fabric infused with native sand, allowing them to move freely with the wind. As the wind shifts, the fabric twists and reshapes while the sand forms dunes.
Muhannad Shono, "On this Sacred Day." (Supplied)
“The land of Desert X is no longer the mythical and endless expanses of the American West but has come to include the effects of our ever-growing human presence,” said Wakefield.
“Artists continue to be inspired by the idea of unadulterated nature but … they have also come to recognize that this is an idea and that the realities of the world we live in now are both more complex and contested. Time, light and space permeate every aspect of this work but so too does an urgency to find new sustainable approaches to living in an increasingly imperiled world.”
Desert X, California. (Supplied)
The full list of participating artists is as follows: Sanford Biggers, Los Angeles, California; Jose Davila, Guadalajara, Mexico; Agnes Denes, Budapest, Hungary; Cannupa Hanska Luger, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara and Lakota, b. Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota, based in Glorieta, New Mexico; Raphael Hefti, Neuchatel, Switzerland; Kimsooja, Daegu, Korea; Kapwani Kiwanga, Hamilton, Canada; Sarah Meyohas, New York; Ronald Rael, Conejos Country, US; Alison Saar, Los Angeles, California; Muhannad Shono, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Emirati artist Rami Farook on his Jeddah solo show ‘A Muslim Man’: ‘This is a living exhibition’
Updated 31 January 2025
Jasmine Bager
JEDDAH: Rami Farook’s solo exhibition ‘A Muslim Man,’ which runs at Jeddah’s ATHR Gallery until March 25, is a deeply personal sequel of sorts to a film he made in 2015, and traces the evolution of his life, identity and creative practice over the past decade.
The original project, a 64-minute conceptual feature comprising 16 vignettes, has now been reimagined as a labyrinth-like multimedia experience featuring 85 pieces, each of which is based on a scene from that film.
The self-taught Emirati artist was 20 in 2001 when he lost his best friend. Four months later, while living in the US, the events of 9/11 drastically altered his life. As a Muslim, Arab-looking man, he recalls: “I became noticed, vilified… it shifted everything.” These events inspired a deeper exploration of his faith and identity, themes that are central to this show.
“It’s about a Muslim man’s relationship with God, self, society and family,” he tells Arab News.
Following the events of Oct. 7, 2023, and the outbreak of genocidal violence in Palestine, Farook turned to painting as a coping mechanism. “I painted daily, summarizing the news,” he says. This renewed urgency also shaped the exhibition’s tone. The ‘Muslim Man’ is portrayed as both a victim and a hero.
Farook describes the show as “an immersive, intermedia experience.” It is his first attempt at blending multiple mediums into one cohesive journey. “For me, this was a fun curatorial process, way more magical than just watching the film,” he says.
The “docufictional” exhibition is structured like a film, however, and unfolds across seven sections: context, protagonist, cause of conflict, conflict, response to conflict, climax, and moral, Farook explains.
Here, he talks us through several works from the show.
‘Aerial View’
This is the poster for the show; the reason I like it as the poster is you can look at it in any of the seven sections I mentioned earlier — context, protagonist, cause of conflict, conflict, response to conflict, climax, and moral — and it could be in any of them. The character is a Muslim man. This shot presents him as a hero — because we’ve seen the villain side too many times in the last 25 years or more. This show is showing the other side. He’s on a ladder that looks like it’s not in the greatest shape. The village he’s looking at: is it alive? Is it dead? There’s the mystery. And whether he is looking to see what’s going on to eventually maybe protect it, we don’t know. So there’s a lot of mystery.
‘Caring for His Father’
This is a closeup of me holding my dad’s hand. He wears white, I wear black. My dad cannot see; he lost around 50 percent of his eyesight in the last 40 years, and then he lost another maybe 40 percent in the last four or five years. He just sees light at this point. So, I care for him, especially recently. And I just felt like I wanted it to be here. This exhibition is docufictional — it can be about me, but it’s also general.
‘Alone’
I made a mattress that’s exactly my height, my width and my depth. It literally just fits me. It’s the idea that rest, contemplation… it all happens lying down in bed. Later, I thought it also kind of looks like a casket. Originally, it was going to have a fitted sheet or a cover, and a pillow; I made a pillow that’s just the size of my head. I try to strip things down as much as possible to just the absolute basics. Maybe I’ll add it later. This is a living exhibition; I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up adding things later — there are some things here that weren’t planned.
‘The Siege of Jeddah/A Determined Defense’
This captures the moment the Portuguese tried to invade Jeddah. The commander at the time, they put up a determined defense for about 30 to 35 days. It’s significant to showcase it here because there’s only two works in the show that are Jeddah-specific. So for me, it’s beautiful. Jeddah is a city that I love very much. It makes you wonder, if the Portuguese did occupy Jeddah, how everything would be different now.
‘Allah So Determined And Did As He Willed’
This, honestly, is a (phrase) that is my cure to any worry. We all look back at our lives — especially at the big things that we invested time, money, or whatever, into, and we could always ask: how could we guarantee that things — business, relationships, or anything — would have been better if we changed something? This phrase actually helps me to not live with regrets.
Saudi artist San Shyn unveils mural on wall of Saudi embassy in London
‘Street culture welcomes everyone as they are,’ says Saudi street artist
Updated 31 January 2025
Hams Saleh
JEDDAH: Saudi street artist San Shyn has unveiled a bold and colorful mural in the heart of Mayfair, London, outside the Saudi Embassy.
The piece, created in collaboration with London-based graffiti artist Cept, is part of an ongoing cultural-exchange initiative between Saudi Arabia and the UK, and follows other embassy commissions such as Rashed Al-Shashai’s luminous sculpture in its garden.
Commissioned by Khalid Bin Bandar Al-Saud, the Saudi Ambassador to the UK, Shyn’s mural will be on display until mid-February.
Commissioned by Khalid Bin Bandar Al-Saud, the Saudi Ambassador to the UK, San Shyn’s mural will be on display until mid-February. (Supplied)
The opportunity to create such a significant piece came through Stephen Stapleton, founder of Edge of Arabia, a platform known for bridging cultures through art.
“Stephen connected us and showed some of my work to the ambassador, who was really happy with it,” Shyn tells Arab News. “I’m so happy that he allowed me to express my art as it is, in a very unique location in London.”
The mural is a major milestone for Shyn, and came as something of a surprise.
“In the beginning, the plan was to create many art projects and murals inside Saudi Arabia — to be known in different cities in the country. The next step was to create something internationally, but I thought it would take longer,” she says. “I was really happy to be chosen for this project, and I hope in the future to create murals in many cities all around the world and leave a legacy.”
A sculpture created by Saudi artist Rashed Al-Shashai in the embassy garden. (Supplied)
The creative process for the mural began in December. Shyn worked closely with Edge of Arabia and Cept to define the direction of the piece. “We discussed what kind of look and feel we wanted — something colorful, bold, and creative,” she says. She developed sketches, decided on the color palette, and refined the concept before bringing Cept into the project.
“It was a very smooth process because Cept is a very professional artist. He implemented my work exactly as I wanted it. I’m really grateful for his participation in this project,” Shyn says.
The mural is deeply rooted in the values of street culture — a movement Shyn has been drawn to since childhood.
“I remember seeing someone doing a kickflip (a skateboarding trick) in a movie, and I thought, ‘What kind of sport is this?’ That led me to discover hip-hop, breakdancing, and graffiti,” she says. “Street culture welcomes everyone as they are. It doesn’t care about your background, what language you speak, or whether you’re rich or poor. That’s something I’ve always loved about it.”
Growing up, Shyn used art as a way to process and express her emotions. She created characters to represent different feelings, a practice she continued into adulthood.
“Whenever I had difficulty expressing certain emotions, I would create a character for that emotion. One of them, for example, was called ‘Sappy,’ which was a mix of sadness and happiness,” she explains. “When I had a job that didn’t require much creativity, I felt restricted and I realized I needed a way to express myself, and that’s when these characters became part of my art again.”
The mural outside the Saudi Embassy embodies Shyn’s belief in the universality of street art. “Street art is a universal language. It’s not specific to a certain country or culture — anyone can understand it,” she says. “That was my intention with this mural. I wanted to create something that anyone can see and connect with, (wherever) they’re from. It should tell a story that doesn’t require words.”
This project is part of a broader initiative by the Saudi Embassy to promote cultural exchange through art. “Saudi Arabia is changing, and the rise of dynamic street artists like San Shyn is a great example of this,” an embassy statement reads. “Art is a bridge between cultures, and this mural demonstrates that Saudi Arabia and the UK have more in common than we might imagine.”
Stapleton highlighted the importance of such projects in a statement, saying: “This playful, joyful artwork … reflects a new era of cross-cultural collaboration between the UK and Saudi Arabia. The language of art transcends the borders that divide us, and we need that language now more than ever.”
