Manal AlDowayan—Shifting Sands: A Battle Song

The National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia at the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale will present Shifting Sands: A Battle Song, a multimedia installation by the Saudi artist Manal AlDowayan inspired by the evolving role of women in Saudi Arabia. In preparation for her Venice commission, the artist hosted three workshops across Saudi Arabia in Al Khobar, Jeddah, and Riyadh in January, where she welcomed over 1,000 women who responded to an invitation to contribute to her upcoming work for the Pavilion.

During the workshops, women of all ages were invited to take part in group singing sessions led by AlDowayan and Ileana Yasmin, a vocal coach for the Music Commission under the Ministry of Culture in Riyadh. They were also encouraged to reflect on the idea of visibility and invisibility in the context of the global media, and to bear witness to each other by writing about and illustrating what they see in one another. The gesture, AlDowayan explains, is intended to centre the gaze from within, and to empower the voices of the participants to be presented on the global stage of the Biennale Arte. The recorded singing, texts and drawings created by workshop participants will be incorporated into Shifting Sands: A Battle Song.

“For this artwork, I have returned to my community of women and asked the questions: what is the history that needs to be written through this work? What is the marker of transformation that needs to be examined?” says AlDowayan. “Shifting Sands: A Battle Song is a call for solidarity in the context of the global representation of women in and from Saudi Arabia, and a rally to take ownership of our identity as we navigate both the physical space we inhabit and the narratives that have historically defined us.”

AlDowayan has often held workshops with women and other communities across Saudi Arabia as part of her participatory practice. For Shifting Sands: A Battle Song, women gathered in three cities: Al Khobar, Jeddah, and Riyadh. In Jeddah the workshop was held at Hayy Jameel, a dedicated arts complex and creative hub. In Al Khobar and Riyadh, AlDowayan returned to the spaces that hosted her first ever workshops ahead of her seminal artworks, Esmi—My Name and Tree of Guardians: Fatat Al-Khaleej Society, an organisation launched in 1968 with the mission to offer a safe space to Saudi women and orphans and a non-profit Al-Nahda Society, established in 1963 with the aim to empower women.

Commenting on the commission, curators Jessica Cerasi and Maya El Khalil and assistant curator Shadin AlBulaihed said: “Through sculpture and sound, Manal AlDowayan’s multilayered installation for the Biennale di Venezia evokes a powerful vision of womanhood in Saudi Arabia today. Emerging from the distinct particularities of its context, the work tells a story that transcends cultures and geographies. It asserts autonomy and solidarity among women and will find resonances all over the world.”

Dina Amin, Chief Executive Officer of the Visual Arts Commission said: “Manal AlDowayan’s work brings Saudi women’s voices to the forefront on the global stage of La Biennale Arte. We are extremely proud to work with her and celebrate her contributions to the local and global visual arts landscape.”

Shifting Sands: A Battle Song will be on view from April 20 to November 24, 2024 at the National Pavilion of Saudi Arabia at the Arsenale, Sale d’Armi, Venice, Italy.

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