Manal AlDowayan’s artistic journey did not begin with childhood sketches or early declarations of vocation. It emerged gradually, shaped by lived experience, observation, and a sustained negotiation between parallel worlds. Raised in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia within the Aramco compound, her early life unfolded in a space that was neither entirely Saudi nor fully Western, but something in between. Built as a replica of American suburbia, the compound carried with it imported systems, hierarchies, and politics, existing alongside – yet apart from – the realities of Saudi society beyond its gates.
Inside the camp, cultures intersected. Children from across Saudi Arabia and the world shared classrooms, languages, and routines. AlDowayan’s parents insisted she become fluent in Arabic, enrolling her in Saudi public school in the mornings and an American-English school in the afternoons. Her childhood was marked by this duality: Girl Scouts and Halloween on one side, family visits and Saudi traditions on the other. It was only later, particularly in her teenage years, that the contrasts sharpened. Moving between the compound and the outside world required constant adjustment – how to dress, how to behave, how to exist as a young woman within shifting expectations shaped by a religious climate.
Photography entered her life quietly. There was a single camera in the family home, and she became its most frequent user, documenting daily life without yet thinking of art. Only after her father’s passing did she fully grasp the depth of his own photographic hobby. He had meticulously documented his life, preserving slides and negatives with intention and care. Years later, during a residency at the Rauschenberg Foundation, these images became the foundation for And I, Will I Forget? (2015), marking a pivotal moment where personal archive, memory, and loss converged into artistic form.
Despite her creative inclinations, AlDowayan’s early path followed a different logic. With no visible art ecosystem in Saudi Arabia at the time, and no women artists to look towards as models, art felt like an abstraction rather than a viable future. Encouraged by her father to pursue what was considered practical, she studied computer information systems in the United States, graduating with distinction before returning to Saudi Arabia to work at Aramco. Even then, the pull towards art persisted. While completing a master’s degree in systems analysis and design in London – again prioritised over her artistic ambitions – she quietly enrolled in evening art courses and darkroom training, supported discreetly by her mother.
Her first exhibition arrived almost by accident as she was invited to exhibit her student photographic experiments in Spain in 2003. AlDowayan returned to Saudi Arabia determined to continue. She set up a modest studio in her mother’s living room, photographing sisters, friends, and women from her immediate community. These early works were intimate and collaborative, laying the groundwork for a participatory practice that foregrounded her dedication to women’s voices and experiences. Pieces such as I Am… an Educator (2005) reflected emerging concerns around labour, agency, and women’s visibility, themes that would continue to shape her work.
Her first solo exhibition, held in 2006 at a modest Aramco art space, became a turning point. Entirely self-organised, it drew an audience rooted not in institutions but in community. The works sold quickly, finding homes among women who recognised themselves within the images. This early support proved enduring; years later, collectors refused to part with those first editions, underscoring the emotional and cultural value they held.
While Aramco provided an unlikely space where art quietly thrived, Bahrain marked AlDowayan’s first sustained encounter with contemporary artistic discourse. Through Riwaq Gallery, she engaged in critique, dialogue, and experimentation, experiences that expanded her understanding of what an artistic life could be. A residency at the Delfina Foundation in London followed in 2009 – a moment of profound affirmation. There, for the first time, she claimed the title aloud: artist. The works produced during this period, including Landscapes of the Mind (2009), signalled a decisive shift in her practice.
In 2010, she left Aramco to pursue art full time, embracing uncertainty with resolve. What followed were formative years spent moving between residencies across Dubai, Cairo, and the United States. At the Rauschenberg Foundation in Florida, surrounded by women artists at the height of their creative power, AlDowayan encountered a vision of artistic longevity that deeply influenced her. These experiences broadened her material language and reinforced the political and social dimensions of her work.
Dubai eventually became her base – a city whose rapidly evolving art scene offered both support and challenge. Represented by Cuadro Gallery and later by Sabrina Amrani Gallery, AlDowayan developed a sustainable practice while navigating the mechanics of institutions, markets, and public engagement. However, a long-held desire to formally study art led her to leave Dubai and pursue a master’s degree at the Royal College of Art in London focusing on public spheres that deepened her engagement with questions of visibility, power, and collective space.
Today, working between Dubai and Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, Manal AlDowayan’s practice is shaped by decades of movement, resistance, and return. Rooted in lived experience, her work continues to explore memory, participation, and the quiet negotiations that define women’s lives – not as fixed narratives, but as evolving, shared terrains.
Selections’ issue #73 Being Manal AlDowayan documents the journey of one the most vital artists of our time Manal AlDowayan.
Throughout the three chapters; Becoming an Artist, Artistic Formation, and Global Dialogue, this special issue chronicles the milestones that shaped AlDowayan into the artist she is today and unpacks the personal, social, and political landscapes that continue to inform her evolving artistic voice. Click here to buy the issue.