RIYADH: The second cycle of the Intermix Residency program challenged stereotypes related to multicultural identities within Saudi Arabia in its Open Studio event, creating a safe space for artists to discuss displacement, immigration and belonging in a showcase themed “Bodies as Landscapes.” 

The two-day residency showcase, which concluded on February 28, was a collaborative output of the Visual Arts and Fashion Commissions, both subsectors of the Ministry of Culture, aiming to encourage local and international artists to bridge gaps between various disciplines through innovation, transformation and sustainability.

The showcase invited public engagement with the works of the residents, including Omnia Abdelkader, Hatem Al-Ahmad, Safa Al-Belushi, Khadija Arif, Maria Florencia Carranza, Eduardo Cassina, Somaya Fallatah, Tamara Kalo, Sadaf Khan, Tra My Nguyen, Hayat Osama, Adrian Pepe and Angelo Plessas.

Tara Al-Dughaither, the curator of the two cycles, told Arab News: “Saudi is a diverse place, and the diversity makes us special…I think any space that is thoughtful of the artists (and their) personal stories is a space where different conversations and dialogue can happen. Personal narratives, in general, are important themes in all of my work.”

Al-Dughaither is behind the platform Sawt Asura, a research project dedicated to archiving the history of Saudi women through vocal heritage. She said that much of the curation and ideation of the theme stems back to that. 

“Art is (curation),” she said. “I think that that’s a rare opportunity and a privilege to be able to bridge my own personal practice with my curatorial practice, which also comes from my personal narrative. And I think that’s why I can connect to artists.”

It is important for artists, especially those early on in their career, to embrace their identities before moving on to larger conceptual spaces, Al-Dughaither said. 

In “Looking Over,” visual artist and photographer Fallatah presents a series of self-portraits taken as part of an ongoing process to discover and understand her Nigerian heritage and culture, one that was shuttered from her growing up.

“I’m a third-generation Nigerian Saudi,” Fallatah told Arab News. “I became interested in understanding and learning more about the culture and heritage because it frustrated me how my family has distanced from the culture. I was always interested in colonialism, slavery, African art, and all of that, and I felt it was really important to understand that this is me. This makes me.”

Her studio is draped in a wall collage of fabrics printed with Nigerian designs and collected over the years, some of them passed down from family members.  

Al-Dughaither said of the curatorial process: “I told (Fallatah), ‘Don’t go too deep into your route — that’s a lifelong journey. Just express yourself where you are now so that you have a good start and express it through the medium that you want to perfect.’”

Using the fabrics as a means to further explore her heritage, Fallatah had some of the other residents drape them around her, as if she were seated within the cloth’s embrace, all documented in a series also displayed on the studio’s walls. 

Nearby was a display of images capturing her dancing to Hausa music, a genre native to Nigeria.

Interdisciplinary artist Kalo presented “Grounding Alysar,” a performative multimedia video deconstructing the idea of home and displacement. The artist used found pieces of fabric to create a rope the length of her childhood compound’s parameters.

“I think being in this residency has definitely helped me reflect a lot on my practice and the topics and ideas I’m interested in, but also it was a beautiful container for (the) cultural exchange of ideas and techniques,” Kalo told Arab News. 

The story is in conversation with Alysar, the Queen of Tyre, or modern-day Lebanon. She was exiled from her home after her brother murdered her husband, which led her to bring her people to a new land across the Mediterranean, landing in modern-day Tunisia and establishing Carthage. 

“This was a story that my grandmother told me and that got passed down from person to person, and somehow it’s something that I felt called to expand on and (relate) to my own experience...growing up in Riyadh in a compound called Cordoba, the compound where my parents (established) their own new community and recreated their own home,” she said. 

In the video, her mother wraps the rope, measured using the length of the artist’s arm, around her daughter. In comprehending her ownership of the space, Kalo uses the ritualistic act of movement and migration to gain agency over her own place in the world. 

As a textile designer, Arif presents the hurdles of a new chapter in her life in the shape of a gown titled “Hool,” embellished with six types of flora found in the region: cactus, lily, jasmine, goldenrod, marigold, and baby’s-breath. 

In navigating motherhood, migration from Pakistan to Saudi, and the discovery of new land and culture, each flower is a qualitative piece within the mosaic of her journey: Cacti symbolize hardships, while marigolds stand for protection and support.

Arif told Arab News: “I’m a body here, and Saudi Arabia is the landscape…If we don’t go through the difficult parts, we can’t achieve happiness. Having a kid, being displaced and having the support of my husband is beautiful. 

“I’m extremely happy to see this conversion and transformation in Saudi Arabia. We’ve seen the negative depictions of Saudi…but one of the main reasons I’m showing flora is to show people it’s beautiful. I’m so grateful to be here and (grow).”

KARACHI: A provincial censor board in Pakistan said on Wednesday it had stopped a private group from screening the Bollywood blockbuster Pathaan in Karachi, after social media users drew attention to online sale of tickets for the event.

The Hindi spy thriller starring megastar Shah Rukh Khan, wildly popular in both India and Pakistan, has been playing to packed movie theaters in India since its release last month. The film, however, has not been released in Pakistan, which banned the screening of Indian movies after ties with New Delhi reached a new low in 2019 over the disputed Kashmir region.

India and Pakistan, both nuclear-armed neighbors, have fought two out of three wars over Kashmir. Both claim the region in full but control it in part.

Chairman of the Sindh Board of Film Censors (SBFC), Khalid Bin Shaheen, told Arab News social media users informed the board that an event management company called Firework Events was organizing a public screening of Pathaan on February 4, 2023, in Karachi’s Khayaban-e-Shahbaz area.

The board then reached out to the company with a warning and was informed that the event had been canceled.

“However, a social media post surfaced again [later] which read that the group was hosting two new fresh slots on Feb. 5, Sunday, after Saturday’s [Feb. 4] tickets were sold out,” Shaheen told Arab News.

He said the SBFC then issued a notice to the company.

“The screening was canceled after our notice, violation of which may lead to strict action under the law,” Shaheen said.

The notice served to Firework Events and seen by Arab News directs the company to “immediately” cancel the screening, and informed it that screening a film without certification was a punishable offense with a jail term of up to three years and a fine of Rs100,000 ($374) or both.

As per Pakistani law, private parties and individuals are not allowed to arrange a public or private exhibition of a film unless the censor board issues a certificate for its exhibition.

“At present, Pathaan’s screening has been categorically restricted by the concerned authority in light of the law,” Shaheen said.

A member of the organizing team who requested anonymity told Arab News the issue was resolved after the censor board physically went to the location of the screening. Consequently, she said, all related social media posts were taken down and the event was canceled.

“We wanted to do it as a private family event which was just hyped up,” the organizer said, adding that the company had refunded ticket money and apologized to buyers.

“But we have the right to ask why action wasn’t taken [against Bollywood screenings] when it was commercially happening since [so] long,” she asked, referring to what she called “Bollywood Nights” at educational institutes and restaurants.

Speaking to Arab News, Umar Khitab Khan, a member of the censor board, said authorities had issued similar notices when such events were organized in the past:

“This has happened in the past and when it was brought to our notice, the board took notice. But whether [the screening was] commercial or not, the screening of an Indian film is illegal.”

Syed Asad Raza, senior superintendent of police, said police took action only after a complaint was registered.

“No complaint has been registered with us,” he said, about plans for the Pathaan screening.

Pakistan, where Bollywood films enjoy massive popularity, first banned Indian movies in 1965, when the two countries went to war. The ban lasted for four decades until 2006 when it was lifted by former military ruler General (retd) Pervez Musharraf.

No Indian movie has been screened in Pakistan for the last four years.