Vessels of Wreckage is a solo exhibition by Saudi artist Basmah Felemban, on view at ATHR Gallery. In this show running through 26 June 2025, Felemban investigates her family’s migratory journey from Palembang, a city in Indonesia, to Saudi Arabia. Through the exhibited artworks which span paintings, drawings, and digital and interactive pieces, she constructs an imaginative landscape rooted in sci-fi and shaped by the absence of historical records.
According to Felemban, her practice has become an investigation of her roots in Indonesia in the past several years, however, her factual research hit a dead end. The scarcity of historical documentation on Palembang, due in part to its colonial past under Dutch and Japanese occupation during World War II, prompted her to start to invent explanations for why her family might have migrated.
Among the art pieces on view is Wave Catcher (2023), an installation of sixteen vessels that collect audio fragments of the Islamic call to prayer from countries along the Red Sea. Felemban describes the piece as an ancient machine used by catfish, in her imagination, that listens and gathers data from these sounds, enabling the fish to study distances and the environment.
Another work, Fish from the Ground (2023), responds to a mysterious 2015 event in Riyadh when fish reportedly emerged from desert soil. The piece explores multiple speculative theories around the incident and reflects on the relationship between natural phenomena and human influence.
Also featured is Voyage 02 (2024), a series in which Felemban uses AI to generate visual interpretations of biblical events. The prompts draw on recurring motifs in her work, such as birds, catfish, Wadi Hanifah, a wadi (seasonal river) in Riyadh, and Wadi Rum in AlUla, blending metaphors and mythology to construct new narratives.
About the artist
Basmah Felemban (b. 1993, Jeddah, KSA) is an artist, graphic designer, and curator who divides her time between London (UK) and Jeddah. She holds an MFA in Traditional and Islamic Arts from The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts (London), where she specialised in medieval Islamic manuscripts, particularly cosmographies, mythical imagery, and cartography.
In her practice, Felemban engages with symbolism, Islamic metaphysics, and esoteric traditions. Her artworks often draw from historical sources while embracing speculative fiction and digital technologies as tools for world-building and storytelling. Through her work, she examines how imagination can reclaim fragmented histories and reshape identity.
The artist has exhibited internationally, including at the 1st Islamic Arts Biennale (Diriyah Biennale Foundation, Jeddah, 2023); World-building: Gaming and Art in the Digital Age (Julia Stoschek Collection, Dusseldorf, Germany, 2022); Art Dubai (2014); and the 55th Venice Biennale (Italy, 2013), among others. In 2011, Felemban founded the Saudi Street Art Initiative to support the local creative scene in Jeddah. She was awarded the Arab Women Awards’ Young Talent prize in 2014 and joined its judging panel the following year.
To get more information about Vessels of Wreckage, please go to the official web page of the exhibition.
Additionally, you may be interested in visiting the Nadia Saikali and Her Contemporaries group exhibition.
