A new group display at Jeddah’s Hayy Jameel arts complex is bringing a plethora of artworks to the Kingdom, including a selection of pieces by artists who are exhibiting for the first time in the country. “The Distance from Here” spans from June 8 to October 25, 2022, and investigates physical and conceptual places of transition.
The show features key works from the Art Jameel Collection, several of which are on display for the first time in Saudi Arabia. A new book, public and educational efforts, freshly commissioned performance and installation works, and a residence programme are all part of “The Distance from Here.” The artists featured range from up-and-comers to renowned musicians.
Mona Ayyash, Yto Barrada, Hicham Benohoud, Sarah Brahim, Jason Dodge, Shilpa Gupta, Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige, Filwa Nazer, Sreshta Rit Premnath, Hrair Sarkissian, and Do Ho Suh are among the artists.
“A Letter Can Always Reach Its Destination,” a video and holographic installation by the Lebanese duo Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige from 2012, is one of the pieces on display.
Hrair Sarkissian’s painting “Background” was inspired by memories of his father’s studio in Damascus. “By recording one of its essential relics, the studio backdrop,” the piece shows “the collapse of a tradition of studio portraiture integral to the history and evolution of Middle Eastern photography in the twentieth century.” Sarkissian photographed hundreds of backdrops in Alexandria, Amman, Beirut, Byblos, Istanbul, and Cairo, then choose one from each city to make photographs that “both monumentalize and eulogize its subject.” Without a sitter in front of them, seeing the backdrops vacant creates an eerie lonely mood, “like ruins or vestiges of a ritual that has finally run its course.”