ISLAMABAD: Riyadh Art, a grand project by Saudi Arabia’s government that will see 1,000 pieces of art put up in public spaces throughout the Kingdom’s capital city, has been welcomed by Pakistani officials, artists and art aficionados as a “great opportunity” to showcase the country’s talent.
Riyadh Art, a flagship of Saudi Arabia’s “cultural revolution,” will be one of the world’s largest government investments in public art and aims to transform Riyadh into “an open art exhibition” by 2023. The project is part of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, a wider reform strategy led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and intended to wean the economy off hydrocarbons, create jobs for Saudis and raise Riyadh’s ranking among the world’s top 100 cities.
“Riyadh Art project provides Pakistani artists a great opportunity to show their talent to the world,” Pakistan’s Parliamentary Secretary for National History and Literary Heritage Division, Ghazala Saifi, told Arab News. “It will boost Pakistan’s image in the world as it will show to the world the extent of talent Pakistani artists possess.”
She said sharing each other’s art was a “futuristic approach” to enhancing cultural interaction between the two countries, who are age-old allies.
Director General of the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) and renowned artist, Jamal Shah, called Riyadh Art an “exciting initiative.”
“It will be a wonderful opportunity and a great precedent,” Shah said. “This opportunity can be very good for Pakistani artists to show their talent to a global audience.”
Zara Sajid, one of Pakistan’s top art curators, said Riyadh art was “a step in the right direction.”
“There are a lot of artists in the Arab region and South Asia who are working on Islamic calligraphy,” Sajid said. “As Saudi Arabia is giving art more importance, it will also provide an opportunity to Pakistani artists because Pakistani artists are very renowned in the field of Islamic art.”Abeera Atique, a well-known artist who has displayed her work across the globe, including in Saudi Arabia, told Arab News that Saudi Arabia had been promoting art and artists for quite some time now and had opened many galleries in recent years that displayed art from around the world.
“I myself held an exhibition every year during my 14 years of stay in Saudi Arabia,” Atique said. “I loved my artistic life in Saudi Arabia as most of my buyers were Americans and Europeans who really liked the Mughal art pieces I normally did.”
Atique appreciated Saudi Arabia’s contribution in promoting art and said the Riyadh Art initiative would be a “great platform” for artists from Pakistan as well as other countries.
Karachi based artist Muzammil Ruheel, who has displayed his work at ‘Art Dubai 2019,’ also said he was excited about the Riyadh Art initiative, adding that such cultural activities would bring positive attention to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
“I believe it will not only create an opportunity for Pakistani artists like myself but will also be an opening for us [Pakistan and Saudi Arabia] to start sharing cultural discourse,” Ruheel said.