This interview is an excerpt from issue #73 Being Manal AlDowayan. A monographic issue exploring the artist’s journey from the Aramco compound to the global stage. The issue maps the personal, social, and political landscapes that continue to inform AlDowayan’s evolving practice. In this interview, Selections talks with the artist about the key moments that made her the artist she is today.
Anastasia Nysten (A.N): Let’s talk about your artworks, your early beginnings, where did artists exhibit their work back then, as there were no art institutions developed in Saudi Arabia yet?
Manal AlDowayan (M.A): It was mostly self-organised by artists and the community that surrounded us, a community that loved art. So, there were several pop-up exhibitions and we repurposed spaces like artist studios, cafes or abandoned buildings. Different embassies and hotels also invited artists to use their spaces. It was very organic and such an exciting and experimental phase for many artists.
In 2005 two touring exhibitions were launched, the Common Ground exhibition sponsored by the British Council which toured the gulf with photography artworks lasting a couple of years and the other was Edge of Arabia an artist-led exhibition program that lasted over 10 years and toured the world. Edge of Arabia was a wonderful platform for many Saudi artists. I remember the first time I met Ahmed Mater and Stephen Stapleton (the founders of Edge of Arabia along with Abdulnasser Gharem). They came to the Eastern Province to invite me to join the group show. I took them to my Aramco darkroom and drove them around my hometown, Dhahran. I had no idea that other artists working with contemporary art were living in Saudi, there were contemporary artists living in Abha, Riyadh and Jeddah. That alone was the main reason why I agreed to join this group effort, I wanted to meet my tribe, my people. We set off preparing for our first show in London at the Brunei Gallery at the School of Oriental and African Studies. This was my introduction to the Saudi contemporary art scene. I met Mohammed Hafiz and Hamza Serafi, who later founded Athr Gallery in Jeddah. I met Fadi Jameel who later led the establishment of the Jameel Art Centre in Dubai and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. I met Abdulla Al-Turki who was a collector and later joined the Ministry of Culture as a global consultant and many more people who were the basis of forming a larger contemporary art movement in Saudi. Back then we were just a bunch of people who loved art and wanted our visual expression to be seen and experienced.
The opening in London was such a huge success that we started receiving private donations from people across Saudi Arabia and the UK. Edge of Arabia toured so many cities around the world, we invited wonderful curators and had such a fun journey deciding what the theme of each exhibition would be and what artworks would respond to the curatorial direction. Edge of Arabia produced beautiful publications and documented all our shows through their website and the press and media were writing about our exhibitions. This led to museums around the world becoming interested in collecting Saudi Art. When Edge of Arabia landed in Jeddah, the reaction of the public was so positive that the supporters of Edge of Arabia created a new initiative called 21,39 Jeddah Art (the numbers are the GPS coordinates of Jeddah city) and they formed a board called the Saudi Art Council and started an annual exhibition, that gave grants to artists to make new artworks. This changed everything for me, I was part of most of these exhibitions and I received financial support throughout the years that helped me create some of my most well-known artworks. The ecosystem for art was being formed and many artists benefited from this amazing time. 21,39 exhibitions lasted for a decade and really shaped the contemporary art scene in my country and in the region.
One of the most memorable Edge of Arabia shows for me is Terminal, curated by Bashar Al Shroogi and opened in Dubai. Excellent show, excellent works. Everyone made beautiful works. Almost all of it was commissioned. The exhibition spoke to the experience of travel for Arab artists. I presented Suspended Together (2011) for the first time. So, platforms for exhibiting really grew organically and the artists and the community also evolved around these initiatives. Today Saudi Arabia has two major biennales, the Diriyah Biennale in Riyadh and the Islamic Biennale in Jeddah. Also, yearly programming of art weeks, design weeks and outdoor light exhibitions and land art group shows. Dozens of museums are being built in Saudi Arabia and in neighbouring countries. Really, the opportunities for platforms and spaces to exhibit today are endless for artists. This happened in just under 10 years, it’s incredible!
A.N: What about solo exhibitions? Did those happen often?
M.A: Oh yes, you have to remember I was represented by Cuadro Gallery this whole time. So, I was working on solo presentations every year, throughout those years. These works would later move from the gallery to group shows both in the region and internationally. Those were the years when I was finding my voice and visual language.
Cuadro Gallery solo shows exhibited my first ever works, the black and white photographs. The I Am collection, The Choice and Look Beyond the Veil all created around 2004 to 2005. These were made inside my home studio with a small group of women that I knew and trusted. Then later in 2008 to 2009 I ventured out of the studio but only in the vicinity of my small town of Dhahran. I created Landscapes of the Mind, A Hand Claps, A Hand Waves and then in 2010 I made And We Had No Shared Dreams, a series that was shot from the backseat of the car or from rooftops, because I felt I couldn’t possibly stand in the street as a woman and freely take pictures. I also made those images while I was thinking of leaving my job and home to an unknown destiny.
I was questioning my belonging to a place that I thought was mine, and my relationship to the cities I was planning to make my home. I used my art as a tool to better understand who I was and who I wanted to become. I moved from the photograph to a photograph with layered silkscreen prints, to artworks that were covered with lights, spray paint and text. The frame and glass slowly disappeared from my works, and I was building towards a different type of art. These artworks in those years were a poetic farewell to my home and my life as I had known it until that moment. By the end of 2010 I left Saudi Arabia and my home to follow my passion, art. There were no art publications or art.
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.