MEMO LIGHT
MEMO LIGHT
MEMO LIGHT
An interactive installation showing 13 collision cars for previous work from 2013 to 2017 was documented in Al-Salam Park in Abha. It was brought after it became abandoned from there to find the light again and appear in Salam Park in Riyadh at the Noor Riyadh Festival 2023.
NEVER NEVER LAND
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NEUER NEUER LAND
NEVER NEVER LAND
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NEUER NEUER LAND
Where censorship is widespread, satire, parody, and political humor are often the best or only means available to air opinions, voice dissent, or challenge government institutions or officials. Mockery can destroy mystique, break tensions, and disarm seemingly omnipotent, oppressive powers. In countries like Saudi Arabia, where public protest is forbidden and political activism is curtailed, there is a fount of material which artists are tapping into with great success.
This project uses the quality of humour to test the potential of art as a critical instrument for the analysis of social, political and cultural issues. A response to an outburst of creative dissent in recent years, the project features a wealth of short films, animations, posters, installations and works that are at times witty, wry and sometimes hold dark observations on everyday life, while simultaneously offering insightful commentary on the absurdities of human relationships.
"Every Joke is a Tiny Revolution" - George Orwell
ART NOT A RACE
ART NOT A RACE
ART NOT A RACE
The installation sheds light on the current state of art, which is directly influenced by struggle and acceleration caused by the impact of the art world, and no time proves this more than the present.
Art is an interpretation of the world around us, and how we express it on collective and individual levels requires us to slow down to translate our experiences in a way that reflects our personal perspectives.
The vision: Speed and its effect on the concept of time.
The question: Thinking of the future of art, could this fast pace transform its nature?
Is the art, as we now know it, going to change?
RED LIPSTICK
RED LIPSTICK
The Color Red is surprising
In all aspects of life on the passage of time and generations, whether for a man or women
The color red is power and tyranny
A symbol of love , romance and eroticism
The flash of anger and destruction
The video discusses the imbalance of Hijab culture. Sometimes the hidden and covered is attractive, sexy even. To cover your body from head to toe creates an excitement for wanting to see more.
If you cover something, it becomes more sexy. If you cover just one finger and show the rest of the body naked, you want to try to see what’s on that one finger.
SOUND OF CARDAMOM
SOUND OF CARDAMOM
SOUND OF CARDAMOM - Sound installation 2016
Where did this sound come to wake me up? I cannot distinguish or describe it.
Is it the sound of a worried night bird? If the sound was coming from beneath me, I would wonder if it was an insect. But it’s penetrating my ears from above, emerging out of the darkness.
There is also a smell, which is no stranger to me, but the strength of it worries me. Everyone else in the village is sleeping.
I'm not far from the source of this sound; is it the sound of the dark? Does darkness have a sound? Or is it the sound of the unseen world?
I'm trying to sleep, looking up at the stars; I’ve never seen them so close, completely encircling me. Someone is hitting a door and yelling, “stop the music; prayer time is coming”.
The sound is a buzzing or whistling … I thought of singing along, but I'm afraid of the unfamiliar
Should I move my bed closer to the cattle? Perhaps their company would comfort me, and their voices would relieve my ears from this beautiful, awful sound.
Morning prayer time is approaching, the sound suddenly stops, and the severe smell spreads, filling out every space. Since then, every night I wake up to hear that same sound, pushing away the voice of the night; then silence, and the resilient aromatic scent arrives again.
Years passed and the villagers became dependent on that daybreak sound, and the aroma became a symbol of this village. One day, I woke up as usual but the sound was unexpectedly weak, yet the perfumed smell remained as strong as ever.
This mood lasted for nine days and then on the tenth day, I woke up in a panic; there was no sound and no smell. We knocked on the door of the unknown home but as usual, no one answered; this time we needed that sound, we wanted that smell. Everyone in the village had become addicted to their recurring presence, which resonated from that place; for the first time breaking the door down was not to stop the sound, but to ask for more. On breaking down the door, there we found the old, deaf women that used to sell basil; she had passed away with a handful of cardamom, which she crushed with a copper Mortar to flavor her coffee every dawn …
PIECE OF PARADISE
PIECE OF PARADISE
I visited al-Masjid an-Nabawi in the end of 2013 and have visited Al Rawdah many times since then, and I was attracted by the beauty of the place. I stood observing this holy place and I challenged myself to find domes that had identical concept . I enjoyed every detail of the artwork, so much so it was as if I was experiencing the emotional state of the artist as he drew them.
The architects preserved the decoration of the inside of the domes with landscape drawings of trees and flowers. The mosque had a unique, artistic decoration designed by very famous Islamic calligraphers – one of whom was the calligrapher Abdullah Zuhdi Afandi who spent three years ornamenting the roof, walls, and columns with elegant Thuluth calligraphy of Qur’anic verses and Islamic prayers.
Earlier in 2014, I started my photography project in order to capture all the domes and their paintings. I was lucky that no one else had attempted this before. I called my project “Rawdah min Riyad-ul-Jannah” (Piece of Paradise).
While executing my project, I started to discover the secrets behind the domes and how they preserved their beautiful colors that did not fade and were not affected by time. After in-depth research, I found out that these domes were painted once a year by a group of workers who worked like bees. I will continue this project by documenting the social life and multi-cultural artistic backgrounds of these people and the strategies behind their performance.
SPRING CAMEL
SPRING CAMEL
The camel is considered the symbol of tourism in the Arab world, but today this symbol has become a controversial one of the Arab Spring. When I was watching the news channel one day, I was shocked to see revolutionaries riding raging camels and looking like barbarians as they brandished primitive weapons and shed blood.
When I saw these camels, I thought of the events taking place today in the political and social Arab landscape – what is called the Arab Spring and I was compelled to capture the symbolism through photography. Flowers symbolized the beginning of this Arab revolution that started in 2011. The call for democracy means the demand for freedom of thought as an essential ingredient to scientific and creative research, which is impossible to attain if there is no political understanding of its importance.
“We dreamed before of changing the world and now the world is changing us.” Arwa Alneami
SHADID ALELTESAQ
SHADID ALELTESAQ
SHADID ALELTESAQ
A short film that explores unconventional dimensions in people's lives. In this film, the search for pants takes us on an amazing journey that reveals exciting details.
YA TAYBAH
YA TAYBAH
YA TAYBAH
The art works which are commenting on the situation and representation of women in Saudi’s of- ficial and religious society. In the work ‘Ya Tayba’ - Tayba another name for the holy city of Medina filmed,children’s dolls, made in China, depicting young female feeling how to be , but customized for the Saudi market for religiously observant through added reciting of looped verse inciting listeners to Ya Tayba song . critique at the same time How commodification is so smart with sound to break the rules.
