Oasis of Stories: Manal AlDowayan and the people of AlUla
Overview
Manal AlDowayan (b.1973, KSA) is a multi-media artist whose works are often made with the participation of a host of collaborators.Together they reveal untold stories about places and people - in particular women. She is creating a major new installation for Wadi AlFann, or Valley of the Arts, inspired by the 900-year-old settlement of AlUla. AlDowayan will create a labyrinth of sculpted walls that retrace the footprint of the old town, appearing like a mirage in the desert.
For this project, the artist asked local communities to create pictograms that symbolise their life in AlUla which she will inscribe on the walls of her desert installation. Their remarkable drawings are presented in this book, and every picture tells a story. The artist connects them with a pre-historic tradition of rock art. Just as travellers once carved animals, goods, prayers and salutations into Wadi AlFann's cliffs, so the people of AlUla will leave their mark in the desert for future generations.
Through the artist's participatory workshops, over 700 drawings were created. They are presented according to themes such as family, home, landscape, culture and ritual.
About the Artist
Manal AlDowayan
Manal AlDowayan (b. 1973) is one of Saudi Arabia’s most significant contemporary artists working internationally. Her work, which spans various mediums including photography, sound, sculpture, and participatory practice, interrogates traditions, collective memories, and the status and representation of women. AlDowayan represented Saudi Arabia at the Venice Biennale 2024. AlDowayan’s practice navigates a territory where the personal and the political overlap. Her works spring from lived experiences—these intimate encounters with social injustice, the pangs of memory and forgetting. Yet her pieces are consistently galvanizing, sparking identification and engagement, particularly among women around the world. Her voice is strong, and it resonates. Her work has been exhibited regionally and internationally in institutions such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, USA (2023); the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada (2023); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA (2023); Misk Art Institute, Saudi Arabia (2023, 2022); Setouchi Triennale, Japan (2022); Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE (2023); Diriyah Biennale, Saudi Arabia (2022); Taehwa River Eco Festival, Korea (2021); Victoria & Albert Museum, UK (2021); British Museum, UK (2021); Desert X AlUla, Saudi Arabia (2020); the Aga Khan Museum, Canada (2018); Institut du monde arabe, France (2017); the Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE (2016); Santander Art Gallery, Spain (2016); Prospect New Orleans, USA (2014); Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea (2014); Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar (2014); and in collateral shows at La Biennale di Venezia (2009–2011), among others. Her works can be found in the collections of the British Museum, UK; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark; the Centre Pompidou, France; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, USA.
About the Authors
Manal AlDowayan
Manal AlDowayan (b. 1973) is one of Saudi Arabia’s most significant contemporary artists working internationally. Her work, which spans various mediums including photography, sound, sculpture, and participatory practice, interrogates traditions, collective memories, and the status and representation of women. AlDowayan represented Saudi Arabia at the Venice Biennale 2024. AlDowayan’s practice navigates a territory where the personal and the political overlap. Her works spring from lived experiences—these intimate encounters with social injustice, the pangs of memory and forgetting. Yet her pieces are consistently galvanizing, sparking identification and engagement, particularly among women around the world. Her voice is strong, and it resonates. Her work has been exhibited regionally and internationally in institutions such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, USA (2023); the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada (2023); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, USA (2023); Misk Art Institute, Saudi Arabia (2023, 2022); Setouchi Triennale, Japan (2022); Louvre Abu Dhabi, UAE (2023); Diriyah Biennale, Saudi Arabia (2022); Taehwa River Eco Festival, Korea (2021); Victoria & Albert Museum, UK (2021); British Museum, UK (2021); Desert X AlUla, Saudi Arabia (2020); the Aga Khan Museum, Canada (2018); Institut du monde arabe, France (2017); the Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE (2016); Santander Art Gallery, Spain (2016); Prospect New Orleans, USA (2014); Gwangju Museum of Art, South Korea (2014); Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar (2014); and in collateral shows at La Biennale di Venezia (2009–2011), among others. Her works can be found in the collections of the British Museum, UK; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark; the Centre Pompidou, France; Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Qatar; and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, USA.
Iwona Blazwick
Iwona Blazwick (b. 1955) is Lead Curator for Wadi AlFann, as part of the Royal Commission’s Arts AlUla. She was previously at London’s Whitechapel Gallery, Tate Modern and Institute of Contemporary Arts. She has curated important solo and group exhibitions of modern and contemporary art and commissioned public art projects around the world. Blazwick was founding editor of Documents of Contemporary Art (MIT/Whitechapel) and Phaidon’s Contemporary Artists Monographs and has written extensively on contemporary artists and arts institutions.
Technical Details
- Publication Date:
- Saturday, February 1, 2025
- Language:
- English and Arabic
- Format:
- Softcover
- Dimensions:
- 24 x 27 cm
- Weight:
- 0.5
- ISBN:
- 978-614-8035-70-8
- Number of Pages:
- 208
- Publisher:
- Kaph Books
- Categories:
- Art Books