Arsenale, Sale d’Armi
Venice
Italy
The Saudi Arabia Pavilion celebrates Manal AlDowayan’s powerful vision with an international public program, that will conclude with a closing performance by Saudi artist Sarah Brahim. The public program has included a roundtable discussion in Paris, a book launch event in London, and a university tour in Saudi Arabia.
The Pavilion, commissioned by the Visual Arts Commission, is curated by Jessica Cerasi and Maya El Khalil with assistant curator Shadin AlBulaihed.
Saudi Arabia’s national participation in 2024 Venice Biennale culminates in an engaging local and international public program, which includes a performance by Saudi artist Sarah Brahim entitled there will come soft rains, staged at the Saudi Arabia Pavilion in Venice.
Known for her groundbreaking work that fuses dance and visual art, Brahim’s performance was created in response to Shifting Sands: A Battle Song by Manal AlDowayan, and explores themes of matrilineal knowledge, individual and collective experience, nature and the body. It will be presented during the biennial’s closing week, on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 at 4pm local time. A discussion between Manal AlDowayan, Sarah Brahim and Pavilion co-curators Jessica Cerasi and Maya El Khalil will follow.
The public program, conceptualized by Cerasi and El Khalil alongside assistant curator Shadin AlBulaihed, has included a university tour in Saudi Arabia, a roundtable discussion, and a book launch event at leading cultural institutions in Paris and London—showcasing the Pavilion’s commitment to fostering a global dialogue surrounding Saudi art.
In November, the program traveled to Saudi Arabia as AlDowayan, Cerasi, El Khalil and AlBulaihed embarked on a university tour to offer students a more profound understanding of Shifting Sands: A Battle Song and its resonance on the global stage. From November 3–6, they visited Riyadh’s Princess Noura University, the University of Jeddah, and Dammam’s Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. In Riyadh, AlDowayan and the curators engaged in conversation with writer and novelist Amal Alharbi, while in Jeddah they convened with Dr Effat Fadag, Associate Professor of Fine Arts at Jeddah University. In Dammam, they were joined by Laila Alogaily, Assistant Professor at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, who moderated the discussion.
In October, events included a roundtable discussion at the Centre Pompidou in Paris between AlDowayan; Camille Morineau, Director of AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions and Shifting Sands: A Battle Song catalogue contributor; Cerasi and El Khalil; and Jeanne Brun, Deputy-Director of the Collection at the Mnam - Centre Pompidou, as well as a book launch event for AlDowayan’s monograph Shifting Sands: A Battle Song at the Delfina Foundation in London where AlDowayan was an artist-in-residence in 2009. This included a panel discussion between the artist and Pavilion co-curators Cerasi and El Khalil.
Representing Saudi Arabia at the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, AlDowayan’s multimedia installation captures the energy of Saudi women during a period of profound cultural transformation. Shifting Sands: A Battle Song brings together the sonic and geological features of the desert with the voices of women, creating a collective expression that challenges misconceptions about their lives. Through this work, AlDowayan continues her commitment to empowering Saudi women, a theme that has long been central to her practice.
Shifting Sands: A Battle Song by Manal AlDowayan for the Saudi Arabia Pavilion, commissioned by the Visual Arts Commission: saudipavilion.org
Event details
Performance by Sarah Brahim: there will come soft rains
Followed by a panel discussion with Manal AlDowayan, Sarah Brahim, Jessica Cerasi and Maya El Khalil
*A ticket to the Venice Biennale is necessary to access the Saudi Arabia Pavilion in the Arsenale
