So Much to Say, So Much to See and So Much Has Happened – Khamseen: 50 Years of Saudi Art

F or about a decade, Jeddah-based collector, art dealer and gallerist Qaswra Hafez had been ruminating about an exhibition concept that would encapsulate 50 years of Saudi art. This summer, his idea is finally being realised in collaboration with the Sotheby’s Modern & Contemporary Middle East Department in a major exhibition taking place in New Bond Street between 12-30 August, entitled Khamseen: 50 Years of Saudi Visual Arts. The exhibition forms a central component of Sotheby’s Hafla season in its London galleries over August, a multimedia celebration of Gulf and Arab art and culture.

Khamseen, Arabic for 50, is Hafez’s own interpretation of the history of modern and contemporary Saudi art and is, he says, “all about the resilience of the Saudi national.” The exhibition brings together a selection of works for sale as well as valuable loans to present an overarching narrative that encapsulates key moments and movements over the past half-century of Saudi art.

Sotheby’s London

Khamseen: 50 Years of Saudi Visual Arts

12–30 August 2024

And who better to recount the history of a nation than its artists? Through Khamseen, viewers will be able to chronicle the Kingdom’s past, from the 1960s to present day through more than 60 artworks that document aspects of Saudi identity, such as heritage and folklore, architecture and landscape, the influence of Islam, the impact of oil, and local and regional politics through to the current reign of King Salman and his son, the de facto ruler Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“We had a queen – Effat – during the 1964-1975 reign of King Faisal. And then 1979 happened, when the Grand Mosque of Mecca was seized by extremists, and that eventually resulted in Saudi leaning more and more towards conservatism,” explains Hafez. “Through this exhibition, one will observe how Saudi artists overcame these societal challenges, and how in fact, some defied reality and showed extreme resilience.”

Though the exhibition is sectioned in a chronological framework, it is also thematic, allowing for works produced outside its set decades to fit into one of three periods. In The Beginnings 1965-1980, we discover artists documenting their surroundings, and here, fine examples by Abdullah Al Shaikh and his brother Abduljabbar Al Yahya can be seen. The Awakening/Boom covers 1980-1996, encapsulating the Sahwa Movement (or Islamic Awakening, during which time Saudi society became more conservative) and featuring works by Ayman Yossri Daydban and Abdulsattar Al Mussa. Finally, we have Information Superhighway, spanning 1996-2015, a time during which Hafez says, “the floodgates opened” and due to an influx of information via the internet and satellite channels, Saudi artists explored new media. Within this segment, works by pioneers such as Manal Al Dowayan, Muhannad Shono and Dana Awartani can be found.

Perhaps the show that is relatively comparable for its significant presentation of Saudi art is Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam, which opened at The British Museum in 2012. Since then, London has not hosted a major presentation of Saudi art. The timing also works – summer in the UK capital draws a significant Arab crowd. Anyone curious to learn about visual arts in the Kingdom over the last half century is in for a treat – Khamseen is novel, innovative and a story never before told.

The basis for Khamseen was to stage a show focused on the evolution of Saudi art, and as Hafez’s discussions with Sotheby’s progressed, the aim to make it more educational and institutional became a core objective. This has been achieved thanks to the variety of works on offer in terms of media, date, as well as source, with works coming from private collectors, institutions and artists alike. The Kingdom has been making headlines with numerous cultural initiatives rolling out across its various cities, predominantly in Riyadh such as the Misk Art Week, the Noor Riyadh light art festival, the Saudi Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (SAMOCA), the JAX District and the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale (as well as its sister event, the Diriyah Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah), among others. But little is being done to fly the flag for Saudi art in Europe, barring the stellar showcases by Saudi artists at the Kingdom’s national pavilion at the Venice Biennale – Shadia and Raja Alem (2011), Mohannad Shono (2022) and Manal Al Dowayan (2024).

And Khamseen is timely. There was a buzz following the Sotheby’s October 2023 sale of Saudi modernist Mohammed Al Saleem’s 1986 oil work Untitled that fetched almost £1 million against an estimate of £100,000-150,000. Suddenly, all eyes were on Saudi modernism, a relatively underappreciated genre whose protagonists had been actively pushing their local art scene for decades. While contemporary Saudi art has been gaining momentum for years through exhibitions such as the aforementioned Hajj, as well as via initiatives such as the Edge of Arabia traveling exhibitions of Saudi art, and of course the Venice Biennale, there has not been a focus on Saudi Modernism as such – a rich and colourful genre with many a story to tell.

Al Saleem, a pioneer of Saudi modernism, was awarded a scholarship by the Saudi government to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze in 1970. He returned to Riyadh – the subject of the 1986 oil work – and established Dar Al Funoon Al Sa’udiyyah (the Saudi Art House). The venue became a magnet for the Saudi art scene, a place where artists gathered, staged exhibitions and held competitions. Another 1986 work by Al Saleem features in Khamseen.

Works by other pioneers feature too, such as those by female Modernists Mounirah Mosly (1952-2019) and Safeya Binzagr (born 1940) – the subjects of Saudi’s first-ever exhibition in Jeddah in 1968. Binzagr, who graduated from London’s Central Saint Martins with a degree in drawing and graphics, showcases a print of Zabun, her infamous 1969 oil painting featuring a woman in typical Hejazi dress. In 2000, she opened her namesake museum, which aside from showcasing her works, stages workshops and lectures, among other activities targeted at younger audiences today – a group who Safeya has always been keen on reaching. There is also a startling work on loan to the exhibition and not for sale entitled Racism by Dia Aziz Dia from 1969, that Hafez had first seen at the artist’s studio a little over a decade ago. “It’s incredible that our artists painted in such a surreal manner during that time,” he says of the work.

What makes this a standout grouping is the inclusion of important yet lesser-known Saudi artists, as well as the inclusion of non-Saudis who have nevertheless called the Kingdom home for decades and contributed to the local art scene. Among the latter are Alsheikh Idris from Sudan and Abdelrahman Elshahed, who specialises in calligraphy and was born in Mecca to Egyptian parents.

“One major contribution we have as Arabs to visual art is calligraphy,” says Hafez. “It predates fine arts; it is our origin and is present in every thematic of this exhibition.” Similar works in Khamseen include pieces by Nasser Al Salem and Lulwah Al Homoud – leaders in the sphere of contemporary calligraphy.

As far as lesser-known Saudi artists go, Nabila Al Bassam is high on the list. Born in India, where she lived for a time before studying at the American University of Beirut, Al Bassam explored paper, textiles, silkscreen printing and ceramics in the United States and went on to establish a gallery in Al Khobar in the Eastern Province. A mixed-media artist, her work was showcased at the Diriyah Islamic Arts Biennale, and a vibrant print from 1994 features in Khamseen. “One of Saudi’s earliest practitioners, Nabila is a fashion, jewellery and interior designer, painter and textile artist, and also a gallerist,” adds Hafez. “This work is the only one I was able to locate.”

Hafez sourced works from his own inventory as a collector and through his gallery, from Saudi’s Athr Gallery, and as well as from the artists themselves and private Saudi collectors. Further significant loans come from the Basma Sulaiman Collection. Some do not want to part with the works, and Hafez understands. “This is our story,” he says. “It’s what we went through as a people, and we are its custodians.” He does, however, believe that this grouping constitutes a museum collection: “I would lobby people to fund the establishment of a museum, and this collection would be its starting point.”

HAFLA: A Celebration of Middle Eastern Art