This year, Saudi Arabia is taking part in the 60th Venice Biennale with Shifting Sands: A Battle Song, an impressive large-scale installation produced by esteemed contemporary artist Manal AlDowayan. Drawing inspiration from the evolving role of women in Saudi Arabia, the artwork challenges stereotypes and allows one to explore a collective narrative of Saudi women’s experiences. The installation will be available to view until the 24th of November, 2024 at the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia, which is curated by Jessica Cerasi, Maya El Khalil, and Shadin AlBulaihed, at the Arsenale (Sale d’Armi, Venice).
Deriving its name and structure from Alardah and Aldahha (battle ceremonies traditionally performed by men), the installation forms a labyrinth of petal-like soft sculptures, their forms resembling a desert rose, an intricate sand crystal AlDowayan considers a symbol of fragility, femininity, and resilience. The surface of these sculptural “petals” is silk-screened with texts about Saudi women taken from local and international news media.
The sculptures are also covered with drawings and writings from participants of three workshops hosted by AlDowayan in January. Held across Saudi Arabia, the workshops attracted 1,000+ women of all ages who wanted to contribute to the artist’s upcoming installation. In the workshops, they talked about the idea of visibility and invisibility in the media and how they are portrayed there. In particular, the participants reacted to negative press headlines and media clippings, and their reactions were recorded. The women also wrote and/or drew their own stories. In addition, they bore witness to each other by writing about and illustrating what they see in one another.
Given a platform to assert their voices (individually and collectively), the workshop participants took part in group singing sessions led by AlDowayan and Ileana Yasmin, a vocal coach for the Music Commission under the Ministry of Culture in Riyadh. The participants read out loud some of their written quotes while having headphones on. They were listening to and harmonising with the sounds that AlDowayan had previously recorded: the singing sands of the Rub’ al-Khali desert, where the dunes create a haunting melody as they move. The resulting recordings are at the centre of the Shifting Sands installation. Here, the singing sands symbolise the collective power of individual voices uniting into a resounding chorus.
About the artist
Manal AlDowayan (b. 1973, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia), who divides her time between London (UK) and her hometown, obtained an MSc in Systems Analysis and Design from the London Metropolitan University in 2003. She also received an MA in Contemporary Art Practice in Public Spheres from the Royal College of Art (London).
In her practice, which deploys photography, video, sound, sculpture, installation, and participatory practice, AlDowayan explores such themes as active forgetting, archives, collective memory, traditions, and the state of Saudi women and their representation.
AlDowayan has displayed her art pieces in multiple galleries and institutions across the globe: the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (USA, 2023); Louvre Abu Dhabi (2023); Setouchi Triennale (Japan, 2022); Taehwa River Eco Festival (Korea, 2021); Victoria & Albert Museum (UK, 2021); Desert X AlUla (Saudi Arabia, 2020); and many others. The artist’s creations are part of such prestigious public collections as the British Museum (UK), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Denmark), and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art (Qatar), to name a few.
Among AlDowayan’s achievements is, for example, receiving the Visual Arts Award (2023) (part of the National Cultural Awards by the Ministry of Culture, Saudi Arabia) and the Arab Women Award: Artist of the Year (2014). In 2023, she also was nominated for the Richard Mille Art Prize. Besides, the artist took part in the Robert Rauschenberg Residency (USA, 2015) and the artist-in-residence programme at the Delfina Foundation (UK, 2009).
To learn more about Shifting Sands: A Battle Song, please visit the official website of the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia.
You might also be interested in visiting The Sky of the Seven Valleys by Ala Ebtekar.
