JEDDAH: As Saudi Arabia rounds up a year of creative firsts, from concerts to Comic Con events, it seems that 2017 has been one for the books.
This is equally evident in the world of art, with the Kingdom playing host to a year full of art shows and exhibits. The art scene is fast-paced, bizarre and exciting and is always changing, with new artists emerging and established talents experimenting with their craft.
Rounding out the year, ATHR gallery’s Young Saudi Artist “Pulse” exhibit is set to run until Jan. 5 and is a biannual event in its fifth edition.
This year’s rather chaotic exhibit was based on the concept of “Time: Past, present and future” and showcased the works of 25 new artists, some of which were showcasing their art for the first time in their careers. The work ranged from awe-inspiring to disappointing, but it was refreshing to see such a wealth of new artists all exhibiting in one place.
Some pieces were truly bizarre, some were fun and cartoonish and others brought back a sense of nostalgia that would melt even the hardest art critic’s heart.
“There are so much amazing talents out there and as a photographer, I am focused on checking out the little people (new artists) — those who aren’t out there yet. I do this because I can see there are so many extremely talented people very deserving of the attention simply because they want to make art,” documentary photographer Iman Al-Dabbagh told Arab News.
One attention-grabbing artist was Obada Al-Jefri’s with a piece called “Trash Bags,” a series of three watercolor paintings and a sculpture of a cat in a trash bag made entirely of felt. The concept was unique, unnerving and intriguing.
“I came back from the US recently only to see that the stray cats’ infestation in my city has grown to a level where people are disgusted yet unmoved by their constant presence. They weren’t given any type of care or attention. They’re commonly viewed as garbage dwellers and invaders when we forget that they’re creatures that need to be taken care of just like any other domestic animal,” Al-Jefri told Arab News. “I want to bring attention to their plight and the importance of their being. Each painting is a lifelike representation of compassion and a challenge to the social construct that is a street cat, I wanted to shock a viewer to reconsider their stance toward them. There’s a balance of admiration and disgust that works, it speaks to you.”
Rex Chouk’s paintings — a contemporary commentary of the Saudi system — feature classical cartoon characters, such as Bugs Bunny running after Daffy Duck, integrated with slang or an icon from a global pop culture, car drifting for example, on a large canvas. His work brought out the child within.
Photographer and collagist Rund Al-Arabi’s “Circa now” of well-preserved photographs of family members also evoked a sense of nostalgia, much like Chouk’s work. According to Rund, “you control passing these memories on to the next generation.” She artfully placed one image on top of another, creating a fascinating collage.
“I dug up old photographs of my family and collected them accordingly. One is from Bab Shareef in Jeddah while another is in Um Durman, Sudan, another is in Canada while the other in Japan. I took months to mash each one and connect them, they’re an extension of each other. As I was looking at each picture, I felt that each one is connected to another and I could see a story form in front of me,” she told Arab News.
The year is coming to an end, but this art show goes on until Jan. 5 and serves as a reminder that there is always new, innovative Saudi Arabia-based talent waiting to burst onto the scene.
Saudi art show spotlights young artists to watch in 2018
Saudi art show spotlights young artists to watch in 2018
Showtime: The best television of 2025
- From belly laughs to gut punches, here are the must-watch shows of the year
‘Adolescence’
This harrowing drama consisted of four episodes, all shot in a single take. It told the story of 13-year-old Jamie Miller (the debut role for Owen Cooper, who deservedly won an Emmy for his faultless performance), who is accused of murdering a schoolmate, and the aftermath of that accusation for his family. “Adolescence” was the perfect blend of style and substance; you could marvel at the “balletic production processes that must have been involved,” as our reviewer noted, even while squirming in your seat at the painfully raw performances of the excellent ensemble cast. “It may be one of the most upsetting shows released this year,” our review concluded, “but it is also a remarkable work of art.”
‘Severance’ S2
Apple’s absorbing sci-fi comedy-drama expanded its universe in season two, as Mark S (Adam Scott) and his team of data refiners dealt with the fallout from their successful, if brief, escape from their ‘severed’ floor — where work and out-of-work memories and personalities are controlled and delineated by a chip embedded in their brains — at Lumon, during which they tried to alert the outside world to the cruelties of their working conditions. “Creator Dan Erickson and director Ben Stiller waste no time in rediscovering the subtle blend of tangible oddness and sinister dystopian creepiness that made the first season such an uncomfortable joy,” our reviewer wrote.
‘Stranger Things’ S5 Vol. 1
At the time of writing, we don’t know whether volume two of the final season of this epic Eighties-set sci-fi horror drama — out Dec. 26 — will be able to maintain the quality of this first volume, but all signs are good. As our reviewer wrote of volume one: “The Duffer Brothers lay down a compelling claim to be the current best-in-class when it comes to making thrilling mainstream TV. Is there anyone better at consistently building tension, releasing it a little through comedy, action, or both, then applying the pressure once again? The four episodes fly by.” There was edge-of-the-seat action and high-stakes jeopardy aplenty, but tempered by the moments of emotional interaction that have been crucial to the show’s success.
‘Mo’ S2
In Mo Amer’s semi-autobiographical comedy drama, he plays Mo Najjar, a Kuwait-born Palestinian refugee living in Houston, Texas, with his mother Yusra (the superb Farah Bsieso), and his older brother Sameer (Omar Elba), who’ve been waiting more than two decades to have their asylum case heard. In season two, our reviewer said, Amer continued to explore “incredibly complex and divisive topics — family, religion, imbalance of power, exile, mental health, parenthood, multiculturalism and much more — with an artful lightness of touch, without ever taking them lightly.”
‘Andor’ S2
The best of the multitude of TV spinoffs from “Star Wars,” “Andor” was only two seasons long, and the majority of viewers would already have known what was coming (spoiler: the events of “Rogue One” were coming). But its story of a population rising up against the erosion of their rights was both convincing and timely. “With ‘Andor,’ (creator Tony) Gilroy and (star Diego) Luna have truly set the gold standard for what future ‘Star Wars’ can be,” our reviewer wrote. “Not just a space opera, but real stories of transformation and beauty.”
‘The Studio’
With “The Studio,” Seth Rogen and his co-creators manage both to skewer Hollywood and remind us why it’s still (sometimes) great (because it can still produce shows like ‘The Studio’). The star-studded comedy about a newly appointed Hollywood studio head, Matt Remick (Grogan), who believes himself to be a supporter of great art, but quickly discovers that he’ll have to park his principles and chase the money, was as sharp a satire as you could wish to see, confronting the inherent silliness of showbusiness but remaining entertaining throughout.
‘Slow Horses’ S5
The fifth season of this excellent, darkly humorous espionage drama wasn’t its strongest, but even so, it trumped most of the competition. British super-spy Jackson Lamb and his crew of misfit agents at Slough House were once again embroiled in high-level conspiracies when their resident tech nerd Roddy gets a glamorous new girlfriend who everyone — or, at least, everyone except for Roddy — can see is well out of his league. That led us into a plot covering Islamic extremism, the British far-right, and much more, all held together by Gary Oldman’s scene-stealing turn as Lamb.
‘Last One Laughing’
Putting a group of 10 comedians in a room for six hours and telling them not to laugh isn’t the greatest premise on paper, but this UK adaptation of the Japanese show “Documental,” featuring a stellar lineup of some of Britain’s funniest people — and host Jimmy Carr — was an absolute joy. From Joe Wilkinson being eliminated by Lou Sanders’ whispered “Naughty tortie” to eventual winner Bob Mortimer’s whimsical flights of fancy, there was so much to love about this endearingly silly show. And credit to the casting directors — the mix of comics was central to its success.
