Art in Saudi Arabia has experienced many fluctuations and intrinsic changes that have accompanied the intellectual and ideological upheaval in Saudi society. From the impressionist portrayal of social practices and ritualistic ways of celebrating religious and communal occasions, to the new generation’s surrealistic and symbolic depiction of the internal human struggle and thirst for peace and freedom, art in Saudi Arabia is flourishing, as evidence by its flamboyant arrival in the contemporary art world.”

Under The Patronage of His Excellency Mr. Farouk Hosny, Minister of Culture and in the Presence of his Excellency Sheikh Hisham Nazer, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Egypt, the exhibition opened on Sunday 5 March 2006 and runs until 20 April 2006.
Place: Qasr Al-Amir Taz – Historic Cairo. An old Mamluk Palace recently restored and a true witness to the greatness of Islamic architecture. The exhibition showcases all the stages of Adam Henein’s 55 years journey of creativity. It includes his sculptural works in different sizes and various textures as well his paintings on plaster, papyrus, wood, ardoise and some of his watercolours. The exhibition also encompass a special viewing of his sketches and pencil drawings and a special hall was denoted to his latest work with charcoal.

which was founded in 1999 to support creativity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to build bridges of communication between the world’s cultures. 

In our search and support for excellence and authenticity in Saudi art forms, we are committed to celebrate our unique Saudi perspective and to set up a dialogue with other cultures to share common ground within the global contemporary art movement. Through the acquisition of a studio at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, in 2001, the Foundation has encouraged Saudi and Arab artists to practice and work in Paris in order to extend and enrich the scope of their artistic field of experience.

 To exhibit works of major contemporary Saudi artists in Neuilly-sur-Seine will undoubtedly help those artists communicate directly with the French public, in a universal language that speaks about the past, the present and the future of the Saudi society, which still is, in many respects, unknown to many. The works of Safeya Binzagr reflect the profundity and the vitality with which the artist skilfully puts on record the history of the Saudi society, with authenticity and a remarkable diversity of colors. Light and colors also play a major role in the work of Dia Aziz Dia, which depicts scenes of ordinary life within Saudi society, with a particular stress on geographical and architectural dimensions. As for Faisal Samra, his work shows clearly his attempt to convey, in his own unique way, some specific sensory impressions stemming from a wealth of life experiences.

 We sincerely hope that this exhibition will shed light on our Saudi customs and its traditions, and pass on the most exalted human message of friendship, tolerance and understanding, laying the foundations for an authentic dialogue.

Art, as viewed and propounded by Al Mansouria, is a tool for dealing with reality, a revolution against the monotonous vision of the surrounding environment. Freedom with its eternal values lies behind renewed vision. It is within such regenerative vision that human beings are revived, rooted and propelled.

The Al-Mansouria Foundation presents the experience of the artist Zaman Jassim, which originates from a vision of an inherited past that is deeply rooted in authenticity and joyfully tinted with the fringes of modernity, harmoniously mingling with the abstractions of our modern times. The artist holds to his contemporary, innovative, artistic expression without compromising his loyalty to his aspirations, nor departing from his deepest motivations and authentic roots. Zaman starts his journey with a carpet, a tent and a camel saddle, which are spaces woven with human toil and sweat, bearing the distinctive marks of a colorful and intellectual history, which parallels the desert’s archives. The artist leaves those vast dimensions to join the desert with its openness on the absolute concealed in his color, in its brightness, shades, subtitle, vividness and abstraction.

 stands among the intellectuals who considered that studying, learning and diversifying research resources constitute the standards for deepening one’s awareness and vision of local reality, once the artistic techniques and the rules of art itself have been mastered. 

By publishing the present book and sponsoring its associated exhibition, the Al-Mansouria Foundation for Culture and Creativity is setting forth the first of a series of publications dedicated to document the works of pioneering Saudi artists. The project aims at consolidating and dating Saudi plastic art forms that will constitute the core collection of a future national artistic resource intended to allow art to spread and grow, and become known to the largest audience possible. 

It will provide reference tools for researchers, artists and viewers as well. We firmly believe that through publishing such worthy books, we can contribute to the sustainability of artwork outside of exhibition halls and museums, so that art becomes accessible to art lovers everywhere.

“They stroked my eyes and engaged me with sparkling questions.”
“Some worlds were about to fall, mine were about to be seen.”
” I realized the truthfulness of my artistic sources.”
Mahdi Al Jeraibi

“Spaces”… it is an attempt to reveal the hidden and invisible things of my life. “Spaces” is not a word referring to any specific dimension or size. It is a space meant to bring back a dispersed, absent and scattered memory, reminiscent of its distorted modes.
I draw the remains of a carpet, a tent, a camel saddle, and other things unknown to me. I draw my grandmother embroidering a piece of cloth. I recall moments that passed my memory and overwhelmed my senses. Things are no longer what they used to be. Things are concealed, evanescent, and yet existent in a different form, a different concept, a different face, a different body, and a different spirit. So that colors get closer to the earth, so that distance between dimensions disappears. And spaces come back to my memory even more dispersed and closer to total scattering…”
Zamman Jasim

5 in Paris for a period of two weeks. Leading international artists participating in the movement presented their works which culminated with an auction on Sept. 21. Proceeds of the auction were used to fund research aimed at finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Al-Jeraibi’s work in “Dialectiques”, adapted and presented by The Al-Mansouria Foundation for Culture and Creativity, caught the attention of specialists and was commended by critics. Princess Jawaher bint Majed, president of Al-Mansouria Foundation, stressed the importance of supporting creative excellence by maintaining the highest standards of presentation in order to intensity the impact of Saudi artists on the international scene.

The Babel 2002 Exhibition will have two titles: “Race-Face,” where The Al-Mansouria Foundation will present “Jinniyat Lar,” the work of Shadia and Raja Alem, and in the language-dialogue category, Al-Mansouria will enter the work “Dialetique” by Mahdi Al-Jeraibi.

The works of 32 international artists are from the 32 nations that will participate in the FIFA 2002 World Cup. They will focus on the subject matter of human faces, letters and language. The project “Race-Face” will show works that demonstrate artists’ impressions of people of nations other than their own. On one hand the viewer will see individual and diverse appearances of himself, and on the other would be convinced of homogeniety of mankind.

The “Language-Dialogue” project will feature the works of artists who are concerned with the concept of communication. The artworks that reveal both the homogeneous and heterogeneous nature of letters and language will be evidence that visual arts can function as another communication channel, and one that transcends linguistic limitations.

According to officials of Al-Mansouria, Babel 2002 attempts to examine artistic responses to humanistic ideology that FIFA 2002 World Cup advocates in the celebration of an event where the whole world acts in concert. Entering the threshold of the 21st century, the many nations in the world should be reborn as one “Global Village” while transcending their differences of race, ethnic background and language. It is obvious that the process of globalization intends not to opress individualities but to respect the uniqueness and difference of individual entities.

Babel 2002 aims to attest to the fact that differences among various races and language can be reconciled with one another and co-exist within the realm of contemporary art. This exhibition will indeed function as a “World Cup” of arts.