Riyadh film-lovers get ready for ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ release in the Kingdom
“Avengers: Infinity War” is expected to set box-office records around the world
Three screenings in Riyadh over the weekend
Updated 26 April 2018
NOOR NUGALI
RIYADH: Once more a Marvel movie will open to the Saudi public at the new AMC cinema in Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District.
Only this time, it is a new release.
“Avengers: Infinity War” is expected to set box-office records when it opens in movie theaters around the world on Thursday, and Saudi Arabia will be a participant in this worldwide phenomenon.
It is the first new release to be screened in a public cinema in 35 years; on April 18, Marvel’s “Black Panther” made history as the first movie to open in the new cinema.
Three screenings of the movie Avengers will take place during the weekend for the public: at 12.20pm, 3.40 p.m. and 8.20 pm.
Tickets can be bought online at https://cinema.noon.com/en-sa/avengers for 75SR.
They are selling out pretty quick, so get yours while they last.
Riyadh’s Misk Art Institute launches ‘Solo Series’ with focus on two pioneering Saudi artists
Yousef Jaha and Taha Alsabban each have an exhibition running until September
Updated 06 June 2024
Nada Alturki
RIYADH: The Riyadh-based Misk Art Institute recently launched its “Solo Series,” which runs in Misk’s Prince Faisal bin Fahd Arts Hall until September 19. It focuses on two of the Kingdom’s most significant artists: Yousef Jaha and Taha Alsabban.
The intention is that “Solo Series” will be an annual event. Basmah Alshathry, director of the curatorial department at MAI, told Arab News: “This series is a very important step, because we’re really trying to fill a gap that’s there: the lack of archives and documentation of extremely important Saudi artists that have contributed so much to the field.
Yousef Jaha (left) and Taha Alsabban. (Supplied)
“We do have a criteria to follow that we’ve built internally to ensure that the artists actually fit the identity of the series. Taha Alsabban and Yousef Jaha were very easy choices because of everything they’ve done in the field. (They have) contributed so much through their work and beyond the canvas.”
Born in Makkah, Jaha emerged as a promising talent in the local art scene, winning a few prizes early on in his career before becoming an art teacher. His work has been exhibited internationally and received several awards, including one from MAI.
Untitled 2019 work by Taha Alsabban. (Supplied)
His solo exhibition, “Yearning for Rain,” features works from 1991 to 2022 that explore his fascination with the environment and architectural tapestry native to his hometown. The show, curated by Madiha Sebbani and Shadin Albulaihed, includes both abstract and figurative works.
Alshathry said: “Yousef Jaha is an artist, an educator, who has been active for over 50 years and contributed so much. He’s exhibited abroad in different biennales, and participated in a lot of different exhibitions and, most of all, he’s an educator — he’s someone that encouraged a lot of young artists.
Buildings of Old Makkah Neighborhoods (2010) by Yousef Jaha. (Supplied)
“The idea was to really focus on his love for his environment and how that influences — and is always present in — his work. He spoke to us a lot about the presence of raindrops and/or clouds in his work. It’s also very poetic — it signifies a lot of positivity and hope.”
Jaha told Arab News he was “honored” to feature in the first of Misk’s “Solo Series” alongside “my peer and brother Taha Alsabban.”
He said: “This is huge support for artists, especially the pioneers. I believe that Misk Art will guide Saudi art to new heights and international platforms.”
Self-taught Makkah-born, Jeddah-based painter Alsabban’s works also highlight traditional architecture as well as cultural elements. He is truly a pioneer in the Saudi art scene, featuring in the first group exhibition at the Center of Fine Arts in Jeddah in 1967, where he was also the first chairman of the House of Artists, and a board member of the Saudi Arabian Society of Culture and Arts.
Spirit of the City (2016) by Taha Alsabban. (Supplied)
“These artists made an effort to actually create a lot of different opportunities for themselves and the people around them,” Alshathry said. “And I think that’s what makes this series very important to us. It’s also a way of showing gratitude and appreciation.”
Alsabban’s solo exhibition “Muse’s Reverie,” focuses on a pivotal yet overlooked aspect of his work. It was curated by Aram Alajaji and Nada Alaradi, and presents 45 of Alsabban’s paintings featuring women in various contexts, exploring identity, femininity, women’s roles in society and commerce, and women’s relationship with nature.
“Taha uses the female as a foundation for everything. He (has always been) very close to the females in his life — his mom, his sisters, his wife, his daughters — and that influenced him a lot,” Alshathry said. “Taha is very well-known for capturing Hijazi culture and architecture, but when you look closely, you’ll find the female form in most of his works.”
The Nature’s Beat (2004) by Yousef Jaha. (Supplied)
Speaking about MAI’s “Solo Series” in general, Alshathry said: “I think it’s a very critical time to launch this series, because with everything positive happening (in the Kingdom’s arts scene) you can see the energy and all the investments — but we can’t forget where it all started.
“It’s important to know that the artists in this series aren’t the only ones out there,” she added. “We’re trying to encourage the idea of looking into, and studying more about, these pioneering artists.”
Israel to skip the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale
Updated 06 June 2024
Arab News
DUBAI: Israel has decided not to participate in the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale, with officials from the Ministry of Culture reportedly citing the need to renovate Israel’s pavilion as the reason.
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the decision has sparked some criticism.
Idit Amihai, the director of the Institute for Israeli Art, said: “This year of all years they have to renovate and decide not to participate by choice? It would be one thing if we weren’t invited. Now when we’re being ostracized is precisely the time for us to take part.”
In April, during the Venice Art Biennale, Israeli artist Ruth Patir shut down her national pavilion saying that she will only reopen it when a “ceasefire agreement happens” between Israel and Hamas.
Patir said in a statement on Instagram at the time: “I feel that the time for art is lost and I need to believe it will return.”
In February, thousands of people, including artists, curators and museum directors, signed an online appeal calling for Israel to be excluded from this year’s art fair and accusing the country of “genocide” in Gaza.
“Any official representation of Israel on the international cultural stage is an endorsement of its policies and of the genocide in Gaza,” said the online statement by the Art Not Genocide Alliance (ANGA) collective.
ANGA said the Venice Biennale had previously banned South Africa over its apartheid policy of white minority rule and excluded Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Italian Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said the appeal was an “unacceptable, as well as shameful ... diktat of those who believe they are the custodians of truth, and with arrogance and hatred, think they can threaten freedom of thought and creative expression.”
Lolo Zouai shares China show snaps ahead of new album
Updated 04 June 2024
Arab News
DUBAI: French Algerian singer Lolo Zouai took to social media on Monday night to share snaps of her performance at China’s Strawberry Music Festival — all while she works on a new album.
Zouai, who divides her time between Brooklyn and Los Angeles, took to Instagram to share images and videos of the concert with her 298,000 followers. “72 hours in China,” she wrote, mere weeks after she took to social media to tell fans she is working on a new, unnamed, album.
The music sensation performed crowd favorites such as “High Highs to Low Lows” and “Desert Rose” at the concert in late May, sparking enthusiastic sing-alongs, cheers and a flurry of camera flashes from fans in attendance.
She stepped on stage wearing a dress featuring a yellow jersey T-shirt and a colorful pleated skirt with a tulle underskirt.
The songwriter and producer, known for her unique blend of R&B, club-pop and hip-hop, has gained an international fanbase for her dynamic stage presence and genre-blending music.
Her career highlights include the release of her debut album “High Highs to Low Lows” in 2019 and her follow-up album “PLAYGIRL” in 2022.
In April, Zouai took to Instagram to celebrate the five-year anniversary of her debut album. “Happy 5 years to the album that started it all (sic),” she wrote. “Thank you to all my lil lo-riders for being on this ride with me from the beginning (sic).”
To celebrate the milestone, Zouai announced to her fans that she brought back merchandise pieces originally created at the time of her debut album. The collection included sweatshirts and T-shirts featuring Zouai’s name, some of which were signed.
Meanwhile, her follow up record “PLAYGIRL” featured 13 songs.
After the album’s release in October 2022, the singer was featured on a billboard in New York’s Times Square.
She shared a video of herself posing in front of the billboard with her fans. “I always said that one day, I would be on a billboard in Times Square. Today is that day,” she said in the short clip.
“Manifestation and hard work works,” she added.
The singer, who has over 300 million digital streams, embarked on an expansive tour for the album, showcasing her music to audiences across North America and Europe in 2023. The tour, which included 30 stops, featured cities in the US, France, Canada, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
A Ghana toddler sets a world record as the youngest male artist. His mom says he just loves colors
Updated 03 June 2024
AP
ACCRA, Ghana: Meet Ace-Liam Ankrah, a Ghana toddler who has set the record as the world’s youngest male artist.
His mother, Chantelle Kukua Eghan, says it all started by accident when her son, who at the time was 6 months old, discovered her acrylic paints.
Eghan, an artist and founder of Arts and Cocktails Studio, a bar that that offers painting lessons in Ghana’s capital, Accra, said she was looking for a way to keep her boy busy while working on her own paintings.
Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah, who will turn two in July, shows off his paint tubes at his mother’s art gallery in Accra, Ghana, on May 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
“I spread out a canvas on the floor and added paint to it, and then in the process of crawling he ended up spreading all the colors on the canvas,” she said.
And that’s how his first artwork, “The Crawl,” was born, Eghan, 25, told The Associated Press.
After that and with his mother’s prodding, Ace-Liam kept on painting.
Eghan decided to apply for the record last June. In November, Guinness World Records told her that to break a previous record, her son needed to exhibit and sell paintings.
She arranged for Ace-Liam’s first exhibition at the Museum of Science and Technology in Accra in January, where nine out of 10 of his pieces listed were sold. She declined to say for how much the paintings sold.
They were on their way.
Then, Guinness World Records confirmed the record in a statement and last week declared that “at the age of 1 year 152 days, little Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah from Ghana is the world’s youngest male artist.”
Guinness World Records did not immediately respond to an Associated Press query about the previous youngest male artist record holder.
The overall record for the world’s youngest artist is currently held by India’s Arushi Bhatnagar. She had her first exhibition at the age of 11 months and sold her first painting for 5,000 Rupees ($60) in 2003.
Ace-Liam Nana Sam Ankrah plays on a table at his mother’s art gallery iat his mother’s art gallery in Accra, Ghana, on May 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
These days, Ace-Liam, who will be 2 years old in July, still loves painting and eagerly accompanies his mom to her studio, where a corner has been set off just for him. He sometimes paints in just five-minute sessions, returning to the same canvas over days of weeks, Eghan says.
On a recent day, he ran excitedly around the studio, with bursts of energy typical for boys his age. But he was also very focused and concentrated for almost an hour while painting — choosing green, yellow and blue for his latest work-in-progress and rubbing the oil colors into the canvas with his tiny fingers.
Eghan says becoming a world record holder has not changed their lives. She won’t sell “The Crawl” but plans on keeping it in the family.
She added that she hopes the media attention around her boy could encourage and inspire other parents to discover and nurture their children’s talents.
“He is painting and growing and playing in the whole process,” she says.
From Japan to Saudi Arabia, teamLab Borderless promises immersive experience in Jeddah
Updated 02 June 2024
Dalal Awienat
DUBAI: From the heart of Tokyo to Jeddah’s Historic District, teamLab Borderless museum is set to open its doors in Saudi Arabia on June 10.
Arab News spoke to teamLab Borderless founder Toshiyuki Inoko ahead of the opening to learn more about his hopes for the new space.
Flutter of Butterflies Beyond Borders in Layered Ultrasubjective Space-1 will be on show. (Supplied)
Inoko said the newest location in Jeddah, the first outpost in the Middle East, will feature more than 80 artworks.
“Each one of (the) artworks are not independently displayed but they are interrelated and they influence each other … our artwork is fluid and has no borders, hence the name borderless,” Inoko said.
The Jeddah museum features four main sections: Athletics Forest, Future Park, Forest of Lamps and EN TEA HOUSE.
The space boasts immersive artworks. (Supplied)
“Once you enter our doors, you walk through a world that is changing endlessly. As you explore further, you enjoy the process of transformation through the artwork,” he explained.
As for its location, Inoko commented that Jeddah’s past is a key factor in why the city is the ideal location for teamLabs Borderless.
“Jeddah is strongly historical and it is rare to see and touch traces of history and Jeddah is one of those rare places where this happens. We think it's going to be very meaningful for people to create a modern experience in such a strong historical context. We hope to capture the journey between the past and the future,” he said.
Golden Sand 02. (Supplied)
Inoko hopes that visitors will enjoy the immersive aspect of the museum.
“At our museum, you as a visitor have the power to influence the art with your physical body … we are hoping to challenge the notion of beauty by showing how it can be everchanging and we hope it can also influence the way people look at the world,” he said.
