Content by the Buzz BusinessSAUDI ART STAR
Part of a dazzling new wave of Saudi artists,
Zahrah Al-Ghamdi is delighting internation-
al audiences with her poetic and sensitive
meditations on memory, loss, and identity.The Venice Biennale had never seen any‑
thing like it. Overrunning the floors, pillars
and ceilings of an ornate 500‑year‑old
arsenal, more than 50,000 pebbles, rocks,
lumps of clay, and scraps of burnt leather
transformed a Renaissance‑era depot into
a stunning simulacrum of the ancient life‑
style of the people of the Saudi deserts.Evoking the landscape, architecture,
and culture of village life in Saudi Ara‑
bia, this extraordinary organic artwork,
After Illusion, was the creation of Jed‑
dah‑based artist Zahrah Al-Ghamdi.In recent years, Al‑Ghamdi, who was chosen
to represent her country at the 2019 Biennaleart fair, has emerged as one of the brightest
stars in the fast‑developing art world of Saudi
Arabia and the Middle East. Exploring the
impact of globalization and cultural change
on traditional lifestyles, and making sensitive
and imaginative use of natural materials,
Al‑Ghamdi’s handcrafted work is intensely
personal. She is preoccupied with memory, with
the passing of time, and with finding meaning in
the past and in her own childhood experiences.“I like my work to be authentic,” she says. “An
artist’s work should reflect their identity
and culture. For art to have feeling, an
artist must put their soul into it. That is
why I use materials related to my culture,
my environment. and the homes and
architecture of the places where I grew up.”Al‑Ghamdi says that the continuing changes in
Saudi Arabia have helped unlock the potential
of a new generation of artists, especially womenTo celebrate Saudi
Arabia’s return to
the Venice Biennale,
celebrated land artist
Zahrah Al-Ghamdi
created a stunning
site‑specific
installation in 2019.In her sensitive
and personal work,
Al‑Ghamdi uses
natural materials
to explore the
poetics of the past
and the changing
nature of village life
in Saudi Arabia.Exhibiting across
the Middle East and
Europe, she is one of
the brightest stars in
a new constellation
of Saudi artists.CHANGE AGENTS