The painting, titled “The Teaching Tree” and created by Muhannad Shono, the artist chosen to represent the Kingdom in Venice this year, is “the embodiment of a living imagination, the resistance and resilience of the creative mind,” according to Muhannad Shono. It’s a voyage not only for myself but also for the resilient and unstoppable creative culture that’s exploding in Saudi Arabia right now.”
Shono has been a powerful champion for a new generation of Saudi artists as the country continues to create its voice on the international art scene. When seeing Shono’s work, the observer is aware of rays of outside light casting shadows on the floor, which contribute to the artist’s aesthetic and performance.
Shono’s enigmatic shape examines notions of resilience, regeneration, nature, creation, and mythology in the natural world and in the human imagination, and is curated by Reem Fadda, director of the Cultural Foundation in Abu Dhabi, and assistant curator Rotana Shaker. A team of Saudi and foreign artists created the sculpture entirely by hand in Riyadh before mounting it in Venice. “The Teaching Tree” focuses on the idea of rebirth as well, especially in light of current warning signs of past and future ecological and human conflict.
“The work is the embodiment of the living imagination,” Shono stated. It’s a form of artistic defiance. Despite attempts to limit human imagination, those limits actually produce more fertile ground for stronger expression.”
