Romancing the enigmatic desert
Beijing exhibition spotlights artists from Saudi Arabia, showcasing their style of calligraphy with paintings, photographs, installations and videos, Lin Qi reports.
Desert of Pharan is an ongoing project in which Mater has captured multifaceted views of the shifting transformation in Mecca. The current exhibition at the national museum also shows a photo from this series, titled Golden Hour.
The desert itself is a recurring motif. Wechsler describes it as a space of vitality, with several works exploring its transformation under natural forces and human activity.
One such piece is The Desert Keepers, a video installation by Ayman Zedani and codeveloped with writer-poet Wided Rihana Khadraoui. Housed in a dedicated room, it examines how desert plants adapt to extreme conditions.
According to Zedani, these plants are like living archives of history and the keys to sustainability. The work, therefore, provides "a nonhuman perspective, reframing climate change, biodiversity loss and the Gulf's future".
Through these varied works, Art of the Kingdom: Poetic Illuminations invites Beijing audiences to not only appreciate the aesthetics of Saudi contemporary art but also engage with the deeper cultural and environmental narratives it brings to light.
