Saudi Arabia's 'Art of the Kingdom' Exhibition Opens at Paço Imperial in Rio de Janeiro

The exhibition sheds light on Saudi Arabia's history, memory, and cultural tradition. (Saudi Museums Commission)
The exhibition sheds light on Saudi Arabia's history, memory, and cultural tradition. (Saudi Museums Commission)
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Saudi Arabia's 'Art of the Kingdom' Exhibition Opens at Paço Imperial in Rio de Janeiro

The exhibition sheds light on Saudi Arabia's history, memory, and cultural tradition. (Saudi Museums Commission)
The exhibition sheds light on Saudi Arabia's history, memory, and cultural tradition. (Saudi Museums Commission)

The first traveling group exhibition of Saudi contemporary art was inaugurated at the historic Paço Imperial in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday.

Titled “Art of the Kingdom”, this landmark exhibition introduces the public to the works of leading contemporary artists from Saudi Arabia, fostering a deeper global understanding of the Kingdom’s evolving art landscape.

Debuting in Brazil, the exhibition will move on a global tour starting with 2025, reaching the National Museum of China in Beijing.

Titled “Poetic Illuminations”, the inaugural edition of this exhibition in Brazil is curated by Diana Wechsler and features 17 Saudi artists from different generations and of various artistic styles, showcasing a diverse collection of artworks ranging from paintings to installations and video works.

The exhibition sheds light on Saudi Arabia's history, memory, and cultural tradition. Woven artistically, it offers audiences in Brazil and beyond the unique opportunity to engage with Saudi Arabia’s cultural narratives and art practices.

“Art has the power to unite people and cultures, and Art of the Kingdom exemplifies this mission,” said Mona Khazindar, advisor at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture.

“This exhibition not only stands as a testament to the incredible talent of Saudi contemporary artists, it also creates a platform for Saudi artists to share their stories and perspectives with the world. By launching Art of the Kingdom in Rio de Janeiro, we aim to foster cross-cultural dialogue and understanding through art, while celebrating and nurturing Saudi artists’ creativity and empowering local talents to engage with the world,” she added.

On the concept of the exhibition, Wechsler said: “Is it possible to approach a culture through contemporary art? How do the visual arts contribute to reconfiguring the narratives we construct about society, memory, the past, and the present? These two questions are the starting point of the exhibition.”

“Through a curated selection of artists and works, the exhibition seeks to explore these themes, guided by the idea that the essence of art, in conceptual terms, is poetic illumination — its ability to symbolically shed light on the world we inhabit, revealing not only elements of our past but also our dreams, longings, and fantasies,” she emphasized.

Two main themes emerge from the exhibition’s repertoire. One is the desert as a definition of space, infinity, and life; the other is the singularity of cultural tradition, and the evolution of a unique visual culture, shaped by diverse pasts and presents.

The stunning setting of Paço Imperial, a cultural landmark in Rio de Janeiro, adds to the beauty and significance of this exhibition, as it creates an artistic conversation between the historical setup and the contemporary works on display.

As the Kingdom proceeds on an unprecedented journey of cultural transformation, the “Art of the Kingdom” exhibition offers a unique opportunity to explore the ways in which Saudi contemporary art contributes to shaping new cultural narratives.

 

 



The Women behind Zimbabwe’s Striking Hut Painting Art

A general view of a mud painted house seen through a window of a house under construction in Matobo, Matabeleland on September 29, 2024. (AFP)
A general view of a mud painted house seen through a window of a house under construction in Matobo, Matabeleland on September 29, 2024. (AFP)
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The Women behind Zimbabwe’s Striking Hut Painting Art

A general view of a mud painted house seen through a window of a house under construction in Matobo, Matabeleland on September 29, 2024. (AFP)
A general view of a mud painted house seen through a window of a house under construction in Matobo, Matabeleland on September 29, 2024. (AFP)

The golden rays of the afternoon sun enhance the bold, hand-painted patterns on the mud walls of a round, thatched hut in Peggy Masuku's village of Matobo in southwestern Zimbabwe.

Outside, at a small table with two curved seats -- all fashioned out of mud -- Masuku shows visitors how she mixes soil pigments, charcoal and ash to create the earth tones that make the striking motifs.

The 54-year-old is admired as one of the best among hundreds of women who practice the traditional art of hut painting in the picturesque granite hills of Matobo, where the rocks hold spiritual value.

The art is gaining recognition beyond this part of rural Zimbabwe, with the bold patterns incorporated into fashion and designs that are finding a small market as far away as Europe and bringing income to its village artists.

For the self-effacing Masuku, it all started when her stepmother assigned her, as the youngest girl in the family, the duty of smearing a cow-dung paste onto the walls and floors of the family huts, a traditional technique to maintain the structures.

"My stepmother would oversee this chore and make sure I did it to perfection. Initially, I thought this was abuse but I later realized it was good training," Masuku told AFP.

"I graduated to doing the hut painting, which elderly women did, and over time became quite good at it."

- International interest -

Masuku's talent first found recognition through a competition called My Beautiful Home, in which she has featured among the winners several times since its launch in 2014.

The annual event is the brainchild of Veronique Attala, a French woman who stumbled on "a beautifully decorated hut" when lost while hiking in the Matobo Hills, a UNESCO heritage site that has one of the highest concentrations of rock paintings in Africa.

Attala, who has lived in Zimbabwe for more than 30 years, was inspired to nurture the tradition and support the women artists and their farming communities.

A new project headed by the German Embassy has also started testing out the commercial promise of these designs.

In collaboration with Zimbabwe's National Gallery and Fashion Council, it has launched the Matobo Collection featuring the work of selected artists reproduced on saleable items such as textiles, flowerpots and lampshades.

The project is helping to find markets in other parts of Zimbabwe and also abroad, mainly in Germany, with the artists receiving a license fee for their designs and royalties for every sale.

To help the women navigate issues of copyright and compensation, the embassy has also brought in intellectual property lawyers.

"The aim is to further promote the artistry of the ladies of Matobo and, subsequently, create greater awareness of this unique cultural heritage, nationally as well as internationally," the embassy's cultural attache Katrin Simon told AFP.

One of those selected for the Matobo Collection is Elgar Maphosa, who is impressed that the traditions of her community have "come this far".

"It is something that we do as routine," the 58-year-old villager said. "I never at any time imagined that I would one day get an income out of it while also learning new things."

- Younger generation -

Hut painting is an ancient Ndebele tradition in which the motifs were originally imbued with meaning.

It was a "mode of communicating the worldview or beliefs, as well as ideals and values of communities that lived long ago," said cultural historian Pathisa Nyathi.

"Over time the meanings got lost and, owing to the interaction with other cultures including Western, emphasis is now on aesthetics," Nyathi told AFP.

Emboldened by her success at My Beautiful Home, Masuku has been commissioned to paint buildings at Zimbabwe's top tourist resort town of Victoria Falls, which she hopes will lead to more projects.

Younger women are also learning the craft, including 26-year-old Nozipho, a development studies graduate and civil servant who is currently learning the art from her mother, and hopes to follow the steps of the older women in her community.