![]() Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior announced that it executed 81 men on one day in March. But human rights issues underpin any discussion of how the country is evolving. The notoriously conservative country is opening up internationally and diversifying its economy in line with the government’s Vision 2030 initiative, launching a slew of art initiatives such as the Desert X contemporary art exhibition. It's so complex what a Turrell sky chamber involves in terms of not just geometry, but also the kind of techniques that he deploys in how he captures light and colour.” Saudi Arabia opens up “What this project enables people to do is to have a direct experience of working with an artist and be involved in researching a work of art and its genesis. The education aspect is crucial, she adds. Sketches for The Oasis of Stories by Manal AlDowayan, for Wadi AlFann. It’s a trope which is absolutely fundamental to the desert.” Ahmed Mater is going for “something more mesmeric, more chimerical, which is the concept of the mirage, which goes all the way through literature, through poetry. “What she's going to do is to replicate aspects of that labyrinthine settlement ( The Oasis of Stories) but use it also as a way of recording the memories of the people who live there,” Blazwick says. Denes’s new work will “continue her ongoing series of monumental pyramids… these new pyramids will awaken the silent canyons they sit within,” a press statement says.ĪlDowayan is proposing “a kind of doppelganger of the ancient settlement of AlUla. “Heizer does the opposite of constructing assemblages that we look up to, he takes the land away, and uses the negative to evoke mass and volume,” says Blazwick. ![]() Heizer will introduce incised engravings in the sandstone rock, relating directly to the geology of the area and the detail of the Quweira sandstone. “We've got three extraordinarily significant pioneers in sculpture,” Blazwick says referring to Turrell, Heizer and Denes. There really is an amazing talent pool in the region.” “As I became increasingly involved, it became clear that we wanted to reflect not just the great pioneers of Land and environmental art and successive new generations but to also give it a global as well as a local and regional perspective. “My role is to basically provide a lead for Modern and contemporary art in the region this is part of a much bigger cultural master plan which involves archaeology and shining a spotlight on prehistoric and historic civilisations such as the Nabataeans,” she says. Courtesy of ATHR Galleryīlazwick’s remit involves commissioning permanent artworks in the desert. Render of Ashab Al-Lal by Ahmed Mater at Wadi AlFann. Last year, Saudi Arabia unveiled the masterplan for its vast cultural project in AlUla, detailing an ambitious archeological research and conservation programme “ to protect, preserve and sustainably rejuvenate” one of the world’s largest and oldest cultural landscapes. ![]() The five artists selected for the Wadi AlFann initiative, meaning “Valley of the Arts” in Arabic, are Manal AlDowayan, Agnes Denes, Michael Heizer, Ahmed Mater and James Turrell. And it's fundamental to my support for women throughout my career,” she says. “I'd rather be involved where I can help contribute to freedom of expression, to art being nurtured, because I believe art changes society. The large-scale, site-specific commissions will be overseen by Iwona Blazwick, the former director of Whitechapel Gallery in London, in her new role as the chair of the Royal Commission for AlUla’s Public Art Expert Panel.īlazwick defends her new post in light of the country’s concerning record on human rights. Saudi Arabia’s relentless drive to promote its cultural credentials continues with news of five new permanent works planned for the Wadi AlFann area located in the vast northwest region of AlUla.
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