The From Earth Exhibition at Ithra Offers A Stimulating Experience of Saudi Artists’ Connection with the Kingdom’s Land
- The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture displays a collection of 32 artworks by Saudi artists.
− The exhibition expresses Saudi art through seven different art fields.
− The exhibition offers a variety of workshops, meetups and lectures.
DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA, FEBRUARY 8, 2023 – The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) launches the From Earth exhibition on February 8, 2023, in collaboration with the Dammam Culture and Arts Association. The exhibit supports 32 projects by Saudi artists in their creative expression in artworks that focuses on their relationship to their natural heritage and their love for their land. The exhibit depicts a wide range of perspectives, to echo the tangible and intangible aspects of the artists’ experience.
Farah Abushullaih, Head of Museums at Ithra, explained that the exhibition comes as a fruitful cooperation between the Center and the Culture and Arts Association to support local talents. The Center serves as a platform for art production, as well as a hub for empowering talents. Through this, Ithra promotes the art culture in Saudi Arabia, builds bridges of communication with emerging and professional artists, in addition to providing a base of communication, and establishes common grounds for future partnerships, which contributes to the development of the sector as a whole.
Abushullaih also pointed out that the From Earth exhibition reflects art and culture that captures history and the expressions of belonging in timeless aesthetic details. Artists offer a contemporary perspective that unites the notion that the unconditional love for the land is the first step towards nurturing it. “We are proud of our partnership with the Dammam Culture and Arts Association to hold this exhibition which focuses heavily on community participation and highlights new emerging artists. Ithra’s mission is not limited to supporting local talents, but goes beyond to discover them and inspire a new generation of artists to enrich the art landscape. We are also pleased to hold more cooperation with other entities that seek to shed light on Saudi culture and heritage,” she added.
Moreover, the Director of Dammam Culture and Arts Association, Yousef Al Harbi, explained that the joint cultural work is multidimensional to boost development, as it is the most capable tool to create an artistic diversity and incubate talents and artists, as well as reinstate trust in presentation and exhibition, which is embodied by the cooperation between Ithra and the Dammam Culture and Arts Association across various art fields in theater, performance, visual and cinematic arts.
"The exhibition carries many concepts, symbols, and connotations that have influential and motivational aspects. Earth is the concept, idea, and symbol, which artists choose to explore as it encourages them to passionately excel creatively, as well as pay tribute to their own roots to progress forward. The artists use Earth as an inspiration to promote a sense of belonging to the land and its details which are reflected within, and which they carry wherever they go," Al Harbi added.
The exhibition will last for 6 months, and it will feature 7 tracks, namely: multimedia, plastic artworks, installations, sculptures, serial artworks, photography, and Arabic calligraphy. The exhibition will also feature a bouquet of workshops, meetups, and masterclasses. The participants submitted their artworks in response to an open call by Ithra, in addition to inviting a group of guest artists. The submitted artworks were presented before a jury, which evaluated them according to a preset criterion that adheres to the theme of the exhibition in a modern and distinctive way.
