DUBAI: “Sunsets are always mesmerizing to me no matter how many times you view them,” said Saudi artist Daniah Alsaleh, standing next to her installation “Shams” (sun in Arabic) — presented at the booth of Art on 56th in the digital section of Art Dubai this month.
Alsaleh called the work “a meditation on time, transformation, and the ways history can be reinterpreted through technology.”
“Shams” consists of a projector playing a looped video, surrounded by overlapped photographs of images of the mountains of AlUla — included shots of a multitude of sunrises and sunsets that Alsaleh shot from various locations in AlUla, Saudi’s ancient desert region. But the sun was not the only influence on the work. Alsaleh was also inspired by carnelian, reddish-brown semiprecious stones that have been found at numerous ancient sites in AlUla and nearby Tayma, a large oasis.
“The work is inspired by carnelian beads excavated from archaeological sites,” Alsaleh told Arab News. “Through my research, I discovered that there are a lot of associations and symbolism between carnelian stones and the sun, especially the ancient sun goddess. Captivated by this symbolism, I filmed sunrises in AlUla and used machine-learning interpolation to create a video of a moving sun in a parallel universe. The shifting hues of the sun in ‘Shams’ mimic the warm browns and deep reds that appear when light passes through carnelian, connecting ancient materials with contemporary digital processes.”
In ancient Egyptian mythology, carnelian gemstones represented the sun god Horus and the fertility goddess Isis. Carnelian was believed to help encourage an understanding of the cycle of life and remove fear of death.
“I discovered that many carnelian beads were found in excavation sites in AlUla and Tayma that date back to the early Bronze Age,” Alsaleh told Arab News. In Tayma, she said, a carnelian bead factory with millions of shards of carnelian has been uncovered, along with unfinished beading products and flint drills, some dating back to around 4,000 BCE, suggesting the area was once a major production center for carnelian jewelry that likely played a role in the ancient trade networks and cultural exchange that connected AlUla and the surrounding area with much of the world.
“According to several theories I read, raw carnelian came through the trade routes with the Indus Valley; beads were manufactured in Tayma and then exported to the Levant and Egypt,” Alsaleh said.
While the research behind “Shams” explored the ancient world, its incorporation of digital technology gives the piece a contemporary, avant-garde edge.
“I don’t always necessarily incorporate digital into my works,” Alsaleh explained. “It depends on what is the perfect fit for that project or installation. Sometimes I work purely with digital; sometimes I work purely with paint on canvas. It really depends on the context and the project I'm working on.”
“Shams” was created in 2024 during a residency supported by the German Archaeological Institute and the Goethe Institute in AlUla at the end of 2023 that Alsaleh completed alongside German artist and photographer Susanne Kriemann.
The works they created were displayed in the exhibition “ALAAMAT” at ATHR Gallery’s AlUla space, which ended on March 26 and celebrated the connections between art, archaeology and cultural exchange.
Additional works Alsaleh made during the residency in the form of intricate abstract and realistic images incorporating crushed carnelian stone on watercolor paper were shown in that exhibition alongside “Shams,” and, like the latter, they underline the lasting and crucial impact that nature and the land have had on ancient and modern lives.
