Grounded by Design: Ithra's artistic showcase with purpose

Nature takes centre stage at Ithra (also known as the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture), in an exhibition displaying 32 commissioned artworks by emerging and established Saudi artists.

Showcasing paintings, digital art, installations, sound art, and other works that incorporate physical elements from the Kingdom’s diverse natural landscape, the artists celebrate their natural heritage and love for their land. Titled From Earth, the exhibition, which runs until 8 August, is staged in collaboration with the Dammam Culture and Arts Association as a way to further encourage artistic development and diversity in Saudi.

"The exhibition carries many concepts, symbols, and connotations that have influential and motivational aspects,” said Yousef Al Harbi, the director of Dammam Culture and Arts Association. “Earth is the concept, idea, and symbol, which artists choose to explore, as it encourages them to passionately excel creatively, as well as pay tribute to their own roots to progress forward. The artists use Earth as an inspiration to promote a sense of belonging to the land and its details that are reflected within, and which they carry wherever they go.”

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“We now live in an advanced era in which knowledge is available to provide artists with the tools to test every state of their imagination, ” said Al Saifi. “All of my artistic attempts with AI are experiments to humanise the machine and further understand human emotions.”

Obaid Al Safi

The exhibition, which opened in February, presents artworks selected after an open call by Ithra, as well as works by several guest artists.

Submitted artworks were then selected by a jury that evaluated them according to themes reflected in the exhibition. Artworks on view were created and displayed according to seven artistic genres: multimedia, plastic artworks, installations, sculptures, serial artworks, photography, and Arabic calligraphy.

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The power of the exhibition lies not only in the artists’ interpretation of the Kingdom’s natural landscape, but also its ability to capture the breadth of its diverse nature. For example, in the colourful abstract painting, Memories Reduced, Abdullah Alalmai (known for his vivid colours and abstract forms) showcases his interpretation of the influence of Asir’s environment in the daily life of its residents. In addition, the artist explores Asir Qatt, a traditional art form used to decorate houses in the region, characterised by long rectangular stripes in vivid colours and patterns. The painting is also Alalmai’s way of pondering tradition and society in his own hometown.

Obaid Al Safi’s digital installation, on the other hand, titled AlKhaloog, examines the concept of grief and loss through the local phenomenon of al khaloog – the expression used when a mother camel loses her newborn. Al Safi analyses and transforms the sound of the weeping mother camel via artificial intelligence, making it a tangible element. “We now live in an advanced era in which knowledge is available to provide artists with the tools to test every state of their imagination. All of my artistic attempts with AI are experiments to humanise the machine and further understand human emotions.”

In a particularly poignant piece titled The Sound of Earth, Moath Alhazmi captured sounds from various landscapes in Saudi and placed them within boxes on descriptive aluminium plates for visitors to listen to and experience. The installation is an exploration of how places hold unique sounds that are often ingrained in our minds and can be recalled from different memories and experiences. By celebrating and preserving sounds from five natural landscapes represented by location metal plates, like mountain winds, a trickling stream, a breeze, or the seaside, the artist shows how our visual and auditory memories are inextricably linked. The plate Earth Sound, for example, is recorded from the nearby Saihat Beach in Al Qatif.

Alhazmi’s work and others on show offer a contemporary perspective on belonging to and nurturing the land, one that champions the important yet often unnoticed role natural landscapes play in our everyday lives and memories.

From SAR35, Ithra, The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Dhahran 34461
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