User:Rosie khan/Contemporary Saudi Arabian Female Artists

Overview

There are no public galleries exhibiting modern art in Saudi Arabia. However there is a recent influx of commercial galleries, and a growing grass-roots movement of artists which are acquiring international status. Saudi Arabia is making its mark on the contemporary art scene and at the centre of this are women, who are pushing at existing boundaries in the socially conservative country and having their voices heard. Their work is largely feminist in nature posing questions on the current political climate and women’s rights. These artists are questioning existing parameters and challenging proposed gender roles and social norms. Using art to express injustices felt and giving voice to an otherwise marginalised self. Under King Abdullah, the Saudi Arabian government has encouraged women to have better work and educational opportunities. In September (2012) the government stated that women were in the future able to vote in the Shura Council the appointed consultative council that advises the king and advocate women’s rights in the kingdom. This has set into motion a burgeoning movement of female artists expressing themselves in the artistic domain, fighting the existing societal roles assigned to them. Their art gives them a voice otherwise denied them to express themselves in a society they have little opportunity to, women are typically considered dependants and often depend on male guardians. They are subject to male guardianship laws (Women's rights in Saudi Arabia) in which they have to seek permission from their husband, father or even son to work, travel, study and many other activities. The regeneration of art in Saudi Arabia started in Asir Province where Prince Khalid Al Faisal, himself a poet and artist inaugurated a cultural center that promoted young fresh talent. It was from this project that one of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent contemporary artists, Ahmed Mater emerged. Moreover the coastal town of Jeddah also saw the emergence of a grass-roots art scene, where artists incorporated media outlets such as photography and video technology which enabled their work to make a transitional path through to the global art scene.

Censorship

Saudi Arabia is a notoriously heavily censored state/censorship in Saudi Arabia, Saudi artists have to find creative ways to operate around the censors to safeguard the maintenance of a grass roots art scene that is just establishing itself and yet to completely flourish.

Soft Power

Soft Power (September 26 – December 10 2012) was the inaugural show at AlaanArtspace art center in Saudi’s capital, the multifunction venue was Ridyah’s first curated contemporary art platform. The name Alaan, meaning ‘now’ in Arabic is supposed to represent the energy and power of the prevailing art scene in Saudi Arabia. The exhibition represents a significant art world trend that is at present occurring in the Middle East, the influx of leading female artists. It shows works entirely by women, whom are both, diverse methodologically and in terms of their artistic style. Further, the founder, creative director and chief curator are all women.

The intended objective of the inaugural exhibition was to identify the interactions between daily life and identity giving the artists an opportunity to express their views on life as a woman in Saudi Arabia. Incorporating the challenges female artists face on a daily basis, independent of their artist status. The gallery also hosts master classes and workshops, organized by Sara Raza (the former curator of public programmes for London’s Tate Modern Museum) teaching prospective artists about contemporary art]. Moreover,[[Alaan Artspace funds its non-commercial exhibitions, commissions new works and offers free non-profit educational arts programming through revenues from its shop, restaurant and café. Soft Power represents an innovative project, looking at the complex domain of a woman’s role and the position of women within contemporary Saudi society. It features three Saudi female artists,Sarah Abu Abdallah an art graduate, she initially focused on painting and later concentrates on photography. Abdallah engages with issues regarding the obscurity and attempts at conveying the restrictions placed on women in Saudi society/ women's rights in Saudi Arabia. Her video presents a wrecked car taken from a local junkyard, painted pink. The artist in a reflective way superimposes her own experiences onto the object. Sarah Mohanna Al-Abdalis a graphic design graduate from Jeddah (citation) Her paintings and works on paper portray female figures endowed in geometric patterns including a series of brides planted head first into soil, their skirts blooming into 'crystalline kaleidoscopes of colour in the blue sky above' . Finally Manal Al Dowayan’s an internationally recognized artist has exhibited work in a number of countries around the world including London, Germany, Jordon, Turkey and Italy . Her installation incorporates large prayer beads, adorned with the names of individual anonymous women, representing the anonymity of Saudi Arabian women in society. The exhibition, rather than being explicitly political explores the subtleties of the political and social contentions prevalent in Saudi Arabia. Throughout the exhibition, one is able to see references made to the guardianship laws adopted in Saudi Arabia. The female subjects represented in the women’s art are givers, consumers, objects, power-brokers and caretakers. As stated by the exhibitions website, the artists embrace ‘a nuanced and at times humorous approach towards exploring the position of women within contemporary society.’  The name of the exhibition encapsulates this stance, and the subjects of the works themselves, which attempt at reshaping the expected narrative. Moreover, it offers a platform for discussion and dialogue on matters concerning art in Saudi Arabia.

Edge of Arabia Jeddah: We need to talk

In January (2012), the UK non-profit organisation Edge of Arabia organised a 40-piece exhibition ‘We Need to Talk’. More than a third of the works displayed were by women.

Wadja

Wadja, is the first feature film to be made in Saudi Arabia. Most importantly however, it was directed by a woman. Haifaa Al Mansour, made her debut at the Venice film festival. Her feature film explores the restrictions placed on women in the notoriously conservative Islamic kingdom. It took her three years to have the permission and backing to make. It is a Saudi/German co-production, produced by the Berlin-based Razor Film Produktions with support from Rotana Studios. It is the first film entirely shot in Saudi Arabia, documenting the everyday trials and tribulations of a young Saudi Arabian girl, Wadja. It encapsulates her childhood journey opposing social norms and restrictions both at home and school. Al Mansour hoped the film would help to change attitudes towards women and film both within and outside Saudi Arabia. However, the film is yet to be seen in Saudi Arabia until its subsequent television release. Al Mansour claims to have faced a number of challenges casting and filming in a country steeped in conservative attitudes. She aimed to depict the segregation of women in Saudi Arabia. A country where women have lower legal status than men, are subject to guardianship laws and are banned from driving.

Prominent Artists

Manal Al Dowayan

Manal Al Doayan (1973) was born in Dhahran, the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Initially she studied computing and worked as an engineer and later decided to become an artist. Dowayan has rapidly become one of the leading advocates of contemporary artists in the Middle East. She studied abroad in a number of art institutions including London, Dubai and Barain. She works mostly with photographs and installations and her work is mostly feminist in nature. Her most revered piece is 'Suspended Together', a flock of doves made from paper chits. The doves are interlocked and made up of chits that women in Saudi Arabia must have signed by their husbands or male guardians to have permission to travel and carry out certain hospital procedures.