Look Beyond: Opec Fund for International Development - Vienna
"An exhibition highlighting three artists from Saudi Arabia inaugurated celebratory activities to mark the 35th Anniversary of the founding of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) in Vienna.
Hosted in OFID’s headquarters on the Parkring in the 1st District, Director General Suleiman J. Al-Herbish opened the vernissage Jan. 27, calling the Anniversary an opportunity to reaffirm the organization’s mission and to revitalize efforts against poverty and supporting development.
"The Exhibition represents a visionary way of thinking by a new breed of Saudi contemporary artists," Al-Herbish said, "[artists] whose aspirations to take their country to the right destination find positive resonance with King Abdullah."
The range of creative work from photography to sculptures and mixed media by Manal Al Dowayan, Noha Al-Sharif, and Seddiq Wasil is a well-curated juxtaposition of contemporary art from different regions of a diverse country. The stark brown and black and white objects have a primal feel, suffusing the space with archaic presences that compliment the spectral mood as one enters it from a huge main hall awash in OFID’s blue and orange corporate colors.
Challenging given assumptions, these works can stir emotions that invite a dialogue that goes beneath the surface of existing experience, beyond beliefs and feelings."
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Artworks included: