Misk Art Institute announced its new exhibition, which will coincide with Misk Art Week from December 1 to 5. The show titled Here, Now will be curated by British critic and writer Sacha Craddock, alongside assistant curators Alia Ahmad Al Saud and Nora Algosaibi under the theme of Identity.
The exhibition brings international artists into conversation with Saudi talent working in a variety of media including paintings, textiles, sculptures, immersive installations and digital works, under the theme of identity and the notions of the self in relation to location and society.
Participating artists include Ayman Yossri Daydban (Saudi Arabia/Palestine); Filwa Nazer (Saudi Arabia); Manal AlDowayan (Saudi Arabia); Piyarat Piyapongwiwat (Thailand); Salah Elmur (Sudan); Sami Ali AlHossein (Saudi Arabia); Sheila Hicks (US); Vasudevan Akkitham (India); Young In Hong (South Korea) and Yousef Jaha (Saudi Arabia).
“We are delighted to see Sacha Craddock, together with the Institute’s curators Alia Ahmad Al Saud and Nora Algosaibi, respond to and map out the universality of identity. Convening artists from more than five countries in dialogue with Saudi voices, the exhibition echoes our year-long work and programming, which is to provide a laboratory for creativity and discovery and invite the public into the creative process,” said Reem Al Sultan, chief executive of Misk Art Institute.
The works to be exhibited include a large-scale piece by AlDowayan titled I Am Here, which allows visitors to participate in the work. The visitors are invited to affirm their presence at the show by recreating the artwork’s title on a gallery wall using paint and stencils. AlDowayan’s works explore the relationship between seemingly opposite notions, such as the traditional and contemporary or local community and the globalized world.
Saudi-Palestinian artist Daydban’s Tree House deconstructs archetypal narratives related to cultural heritage and identity, while American contemporary artist Hicks presents a large-scale woven installation originally conceived in Riyadh’s King Saud University, where Hicks set up an art program in the 1980s. Lying on the ground and looking up at the tree became the basis of her piece Palm.