RIYADH: Saudi curators and architects have teamed up under the banner of the Misk Art Institute and the Italian Embassy to place the Kingdom under the cultural spotlight in a major international architecture exhibition that will open in Venice on May 26.
This is the first time the Kingdom will be represented at the exhibition with a national pavilion.
In the run-up to La Biennale di Venezia exhibition, a presentation on the Saudi pavilion was hosted by Italian Ambassador Luca Ferrari and Dr. Ahmed Mater, director of the Misk Art Institute, at the ambassador’s residence in Riyadh.
The pavilion, titled “Spaces in Between,” has been organized under the leadership of the Misk Art Institute.
It will showcase works by Saudi architects Abdulrahman and Turki Gazzaz, supervised by curators Dr. Sumaya Al-Solaiman and Jawaher Al-Sudairy.
“The presentation was organized to celebrate a landmark moment in the history of Saudi Arabia, and for cultural relations between Italy and the Kingdom,” said Ferrari.
“The economic and social changes that we are witnessing in the Kingdom today are extraordinary. As we continue to develop the strategic partnership between our two countries, arts and culture have a special role,” he added.
“There is now a need to develop a more strategic framework to enhance our mutual cultural dialogue… There is no better time for the Kingdom to join La Biennale di Venezia.”
Italian architects have worked in Saudi Arabia and contributed to its development, said Ferrari.
The exhibition will explore new possibilities to utilize minimal spaces to increase socialization and community building in the Kingdom’s rapidly expanding cities, he added.
Al-Sudairy said the exhibition will also “explore the social implications of architecture. Architects Abdulrahman and Turki Gazzaz are using this opportunity to examine the relationship between space and architecture, hoping to engage visitors in the potential of creating interaction through redesign.”
La Biennale di Venezia was founded in 1895 to promote and showcase the very best of contemporary art from around the world.
Over the years, it has grown to encompass all forms of artistic expression, including cinema, music, theater, architecture and dance.
