Visit Riyadh Zoo for a truly wild experience

RIYADH: Visitors to Wadi Hanifa, Riyadh’s vast valley lined with palm trees and water streams, were greeted last weekend by a number of new large-scale contemporary public art works created by Saudi and international artists. was taken.

The installation is part of Noor Riyadh, an annual light and arts festival featuring over 190 works by nearly 130 Saudi and international artists from over 40 countries. They are on display until his November 19th at his 40 locations in his five major hubs in Riyadh.

Children played soccer in front of American/Puerto Rican artist Gisela Colón’s work, “One Thousand Galaxies of Light.” The work consists of an oval composition of her 100 white light tubes standing upright 2.5 meters high.

Cologne, who also participated in the first edition of Desert X AlUla in 2020, has combined physics, physics, He said he used cosmology and biology. Riyadh of the Year: “We dream of new horizons.”

On a nearby boulevard, passers-by can see De Anima, an installation by Riyadh-based choreographer, dancer and artist Sarah Brahim.

“For this piece, I was inspired by how light penetrates the body and comes back in different ways,” Brahim told Arab News.

“This work re-theorizes Aristotle’s text De Anima and examines five different souls at five different times of the day on how light animates the soul and the essence of life. Each person represents a kind of light, both physical and metaphorical.”

Brahim also emphasizes the use of time in his work. Visitors to the installation are provided with headphones that allow them to listen to the soundtrack while viewing the images.

Another work on display at Wadi Hanifah is ‘Ghosts of Today and Tomorrow’ by Saudi Arabian multimedia artist Ahaad Alamoudi. This is his installation, a performance that considers the role of light as a natural carrier of information. Consisting of two ancient pigeon towers, alluding to the historical use of pigeons as message bearers, a type of traditional Arab song is played while light streams through the openings in each tower. There is a singer playing mawwal which is

“The meaning of light is very familiar and appropriate for a city like Riyadh,” Miguel Blanco Carrasco, Executive Director of Noor Riyadh, told Arab News. “Thanks to Riyadh’s temperature and topography, the city comes to life after sunset.”

In the evening, many residents go out to dinner or spend time in the city’s many parks. It was conceived for the purpose of setting art in place.

“Light is a medium accessible to everyone, regardless of education level, class, or understanding of contemporary art,” says Blanco-Carrasco. “We want to take art everywhere and make it accessible to everyone.”

Another highlight of Noor Riyadh is Saudi artist Muhannad Shono’s “I See You Brightest in the Dark” on display at Beit Al Malaz.

Meanwhile, Saudi-Palestinian artist Ayman Yosri Deidvan’s “If God Willing, All Will be Resolved” uses selected stills from subtitled films to create works that depict Arabic script in light. doing.

It is inspired by the commonly used Arabic phrase ‘Inshallah’, rendered in large neon white text on the structure of a derelict dolphin hospital. It overlooks the surrounding abandoned cityscape, breathing new life into a space that is now largely devoid of human presence.

“Carving the Future” by Saudi artist Obaid Al-Safi is set in a desert landscape. In this work, the artist questions the relationship between the desert and the civilizations that have emerged from it, contemplating the link between the kingdom’s ancient past and its recent transformation.

Saudi artist Ayman Zedani’s poignant work “Between Biotic and Bionic” in the Olaya district of Riyadh explores how people experience nature as mimics such as artificial rainforests and neon jungles in Gulf cities. is increasing, and we are exploring the blurring of the distinction. Between real and artificial.

In Zedani’s signature style, it brings together light, sound, sculpture and elements of nature into a structure made of welded metal covered with resurrection plants, a type of plant that can survive periods of extreme dehydration. , a tribute to the desert. landscape and the effects of climate change.

Don’t miss the text work by Joel Andrianomearisoa, an artist from Madagascar. Installed in King Abdullah’s financial district and created using neon lights and metal, the work conveys the message of ‘future nostalgia to keep the present alive, on endless horizons’, and a voyage into the future. It speaks of love, hope and dreams.

Noor Riyadh is the first program run under the auspices of Riyadh Art, the Kingdom’s first public art initiative. We aim to transform the city into a ‘gallery without walls’, beautify it and enhance people’s creativity.

One of its purposes, according to Blanco-Carrasco, is: We want to make it available to everyone in Riyadh. Noor Riyadh is their festival. ”