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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Young Saudi Artists Exhibition at Athr Gallery


Athr Art Gallery held its opening reception of Young Saudi Artists Exhibition on February 21 for a crowd of more than 200 art enthusiasts. Unfortunately I was not able to attend because, like all women here in Saudi Arabia, I cannot drive - and my husband dislikes driving across town in the horrendous evening traffic. Many Saudi women are fortunate enough to have drivers to cart them here and there, but I am not so fortunate.

So the following morning my husband took me to the dentist (note: when we lived in the states for 30 years, not once did Adnan accompany me to the doctor or the dentist, but now that I have the legal status of a child and cannot drive, he has to take me). To his credit, afterwards he obligingly drove me over to Athr Gallery at the Mega Mall complex on Tahlia Street to see the art exhibition.


The spacious and bright Athr Gallery represents many artists who work in many mediums in Saudi Arabia. Although this particular group of 23 talented artists is called Young Saudi Artists, they range in age from 17 to 70. Sixty per cent of the gallery’s business comes from international sales. Mr. Hamza Serafi, one of the owners and operators of Athr Gallery, told us that the gallery doesn’t necessarily represent the best Saudi artists, but rather it looks for artists who are passionate, motivated and enthusiastic about their work.

Below are a few of the many works of art to be found at Athr Gallery right now. I tried to include artist information with each piece, but I did not have it available for all. Just click on the photos for an enlarged view. This exhibition will be on display through March 20th.




























Special thanks to Mr. Hamza Serafi for so graciously welcoming us to the gallery, and also to Mr. Abdullah, a supervisor at Mega Mall, for his amazing assistance.

11 comments:

  1. Glad Adnan took you to the gallery. Some very interesting work here but I like the first image best.

    Hope the dentist was gentle with you.

    So crazy not to be able to just take yourself where ever you want to go. I don't know how you stand it.

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  2. I admitedly don't have much appreciation for art but some of those are really beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Pretty neat...creative and different. I love art.
    I'm glad that you were able to go regardless.

    xo
    Salma

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  4. Thank you amazing blog, do you have twitter, facebook or something similar where i can follow your blog

    Sandro Heckler

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  5. The art in this show is very revealing. So glad that you were able to make it.

    I thought this driving issue was about to change. It must drive you nuts after having normal freedoms back here. Hope all is going well with your son...

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  6. Love the art! It's really interesting. Thank you for sharing.

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  7. Wonderful. Demonstrates that beneath enforced cultural conformity there are imaginative, independent minds at work.

    Thanks for sharing, Susie.

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  8. Wow, how exotic, thankyou for your kind comment on my zap.

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  9. Dear Susie,

    On behalf of Athr Gallery, I would like to thank you for the wonderful post. Hopefully you will be able to attend our next Young Saudi Artist exhibition tentatively set for April 2013.

    All the best!

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  10. I was checking your blog for research and accidentally stumbled upon this post! My artwork is the one in magenta and green- was happy to see it here!

    Anyways wanted to thanks for the excellent blog, makes me miss Jeddah <3

    Cheers from Dubai x

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