Exhibitions

Hudood: Rethinking boundaries

SOAS Gallery, London, United Kingdom 11 Jul - 21 Sep 2024 Hudood, a collaborative exhibition led by SOAS students at the SOAS Gallery, is set to take place from 1 July - 21 September 2024. The exhibition introduces contemporary art from the Barjeel Foundation, with a focus on the overarching theme of 'Boundaries' as both a subject and a tool for... Read more

Their Love is like all Loves, Their death is like all deaths

9 Feb - 23 Mar 2024 Arts AlUla and Sabrina Amrani are pleased to present ‘Their Love is Like All Loves, Their Death is Like All Deaths’, a solo exhibition by Manal AlDowayan. ‘Their Love is Like All Loves, Their Death is Like All Deaths’ is a chapter in an unceasing story that Manal AlDowayan has... Read more

Oasis of Stories

9 Feb - 23 Mar 2024 AlDowayan (b.1973, KSA) is a multi-media artist whose works are often made with the participation of a host of collaborators.Together they reveal untold stories about places and people - in particular women. She is creating a major new installation for Wadi AlFann, or Valley of the Arts, inspired by the... Read more

Breaking the monument

Casall Solleric, Palma de Mallorca 1 Feb - 31 Mar 2024 Casal Solleric presents Breaking the Monument, a selection of works by artists from very different contexts that, in very different ways, attack the power of pre-established images; of all those that manipulate and condition us, that limit us, that disapprove and censor us. A group of creators who work from... Read more

Matters Through Matter

Main Exhibition in Balad Al Fann Festival in Jeddah Historical District. Curator Jumana Gouth 9 Jan - 9 Mar 2024 The “Matters Through Matter” display, part of the Jeddah Historical District Program’s Balad Al-Fann arts and culture initiative, aims to challenge traditional human-centric worldview. Curated by Jeddah-born Jumana Ghouth in collaboration with Graham Harman, the exhibition invites visitors to explore the enigmatic and mysterious potential of objects, shifting the focus... Read more

Signs in the Landscape - Bienal Sur

Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil - Brasilia, Brazil 19 Sep - 5 Nov 2023 'Signs in the Landscape seeks to generate, through artistic production, a reflection on the ways in which the world we inhabit is being modified. In different ways, our gaze on the natural environment - previously identified among conventional artistic themes as the landscape in a state of urgency - demands... Read more

TEAM WORK. 30 YEARS OF CGAC

Gaiás Centre Museum of the City of Culture - SANTIAGO, SPAIN 12 Jul - 15 Oct 2023 An anniversary is somewhat more than a celebration: it also entails remembering a history, taking stock, reviewing, and re-reading the past in order to gain momentum to address the future. In the case of the CGAC, this exercise of revision also, necessarily, involves acknowledging the work of all those individuals... Read more

Being and Belonging: Contemporary Women Artists from the Islamic World and Beyond

Royal Ontario Museum - Ontario, Canada 1 Jul - 19 Nov 2023 Being and Belonging: Contemporary Women Artists from the Islamic World and Beyond is a bold exhibition exploring the defining issues of our time from the perspective of 25 women artists from or connected to the broader Islamic world spanning across West Africa to Southeast Asia or living in diaspora. Deftly... Read more

Women Defining Women in Contemporary Art of the Middle East and Beyond

Los Angeles County Museum of Art - Los Angeles 23 Apr - 24 Sep 2023 'This exhibition presents 75 works by women artists who were born or live in what can broadly be termed Islamic societies. Frequently perceived as voiceless and invisible, they are neither. Each through her unique vision is fashioning not only her own definition of self but also helping to redefine and... Read more

Woven Spaces

Fenaa Alawwal - Riyadh 11 Apr - 24 Jul 2023 'Beyond the classical quarrel of arts and crafts, woven art has been part of our daily practice across cultures. The story behind each of the represented artworks is the starting point of Woven Spaces. On display, there are installations that hold multiple dimensions, exploring in some the liminality of a... Read more

(Solo Show) Manal AlDowayan: Participatory Acts

Misk Art Institute - Riyadh 1 Mar - 15 Jun 2023 'Saudi artist Manal AlDowayanis a prolific multimedia artist that emerged in the global scene during the early 2000s. Originally from the Eastern province, AlDowayan’s art has often touched on the crucial topic of gender-specific social obstacles and socio-political narratives in Saudi Arabia. Many of her work throughout the years has... Read more

(Solo Show) Their Love Is like all Loves, Their Death is Like All Deaths

Sabrina Amrani Gallery - Madrid 4 Feb - 15 Apr 2023 'Sabrina Amrani is pleased to present Their Love is Like All Loves, Their Death is Like All Deaths, Manal AlDowayan’s fourth solo show at the gallery. Their Love is Like All Loves, Their Death is Like All Deaths is a chapter in an unceasing story that Manal AlDowayan has forged... Read more

The Future of Traditions. Writing Pictures: Contemporary Art from the Middle East

Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of London - London 12 Jan - 25 Mar 2023 'This exhibition is about three generations of artists from Iran and the Arab world, from the early pioneers of a vernacular Lettrism movement in the 1960s till now. These artists, from different backgrounds and possessing diverse styles, take inspiration from their own culture; they use the morphology of letters and... Read more

Icon. Iconic. Art Here 2022. Richard Miller Art Prize

Louvre Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi 18 Nov 2022 - 19 Feb 2023 'An Icon is at once an object, an image, and a symbol. Its material qualities are as important as what it represents. To be ‘iconic’ is to represent and embody something unique and undefinable that delivers an immediate effect. It involves a physical encounter with an art object, a sublime... Read more

Setouchi Triennale

Ibuki - Japan 29 Sep - 6 Nov 2022 'The Seto Inland Sea has been a vital transportation route since ancient times. Ships plying its waters stopped at different islands where their crew passed along the latest cultural and lifestyle trends. The distinctive local cultures that emerged through such interactions can still be found today. The islands’ unique identities,... Read more

History in Fragments

Sabrina Amrani Gallery - Madrid 8 Sep - 6 Nov 2022 'History in Fragments is a group exhibition featuring works of artists whose practices touch on aspects and qualities of ceramics, either as a primary material, conceptual framework or context for larger installations. This exhibition highlights the diversity of approach to making artworks in ceramics and the significance of this media... Read more

Amakin

Ithra (Dammam) - 21, 39 Saudi Art Council (Jeddah) 3 Mar - 30 Sep 2022 ' Amakin is an exhibition of contemporary and modern art that showcases the work of 28 international and regional artists, all of whom have a reputable careers in the art scene. This exhibition explores what the notion of “makan” (Arabic for “a sense of space”) means to each of the... Read more

The Time is Right: Jeddah Photo

Saudi Art Council / ATHR Gallery - Jeddah 17 Feb - 16 Apr 2022 'A group of acclaimed Saudi and international photographers have joined forces for the launch of a new exhibition project in the Kingdom. The inaugural edition of Jeddah Photo 2022, running at Athr Gallery until March 17, will be showcasing a variety of images including some of the earliest photographic experiments,... Read more

What Lies Within

Maraya - AlUla, Saudi Arabia 11 Feb - 30 Mar 2022 'What Lies Within brought together works from the past two decades by some of the most significant artists of Saudi Arabia and its diaspora from the private collection of Saudi female patron and collector Basma AlSulaiman. This collection preserved a remarkable visual record of Saudi heritage and reflected a journey... Read more

Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives

Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) - Abu Dhabi 21 Jan - 16 Apr 2022 'Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives, the jewel of Abu Dhabi Festival 2022, has come to a close but the story of the nation’s artistic development as it transpired over 50 years lives on through the innovative launch of the virtual exhibition and its book companion, Portrait of a... Read more

Feeling the Stones - 1st Diriyah Biennale

Biennale Foundation - Jax - Riyadh 11 Dec 2021 - 11 Mar 2022 'Feeling The Stones The first edition of Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale marks the beginning of era-defining connections, a celebration of Saudi Arabia’s contemporary art scene and the Kingdom’s evolving position as a major global art powerhouse. Diriyah Biennale Foundation is deeply aware of the current level of recognition enjoyed by... Read more

Taehwa River Eco Festival

TEAF21 - Ulsan 14 Oct - 7 Nov 2021 'Following this year’s theme, ‘Unhidden/Unseeable’, the exhibition sets out to examine the role of visual culture in a rapidly changing state, showcasing works submitted by 12 teams from six countries—Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan, India, Canada and the United States—at Taehwagang National Garden Migratory Bird Park. During the past, the exhibition... Read more

(Solo Show) The Eternal Return of the Same

IVDE Gallery - Dubai 5 Oct - 23 Dec 2021 'Manal AlDowayan's first solo exhibition at the gallery includes mixed media sculptural works inspired by the intricate form and occurrence of the desert rose. AlDowayan’s practice reimagines the body’s renegotiation with space, here she considers women’s new freedoms in daily life and society in Saudi Arabia. Grappling with these unreconciled... Read more

Here, Now

MISK Art Institute - Riyadh 3 Oct 2021 - 15 Jan 2022 '‘Here, Now’, Misk Art Institute’s 3rd annual exhibition curated by Sacha Craddock, assisted by the Institute’s own assistant curators Alia Ahmad Al Saud and Nora Algosaibi. This exhibition brings international artists into conversation with local talent, showcasing a variety of media on show including paintings, textiles, sculptures, immersive installations, and... Read more

The Northern Alps Festival

Northern Alps Art Festival - Omachi 1 Oct - 31 Dec 2021 'The Water, Trees, Earth, Sky of the Northern Alps Overwhelming torrents of water come flowing from the mountains of the Northern Alps. Omachi City in the Nagano Prefecture lies on the Fossa Magna, which runs through the center of the Japanese archipelago. Surrounded by a series of alluvial fans, it... Read more

(Solo Show) I Am Here

IVDE Gallery - Dubai 22 - 25 Sep 2021 'Manal AlDowayan's participatory art work inspired by “instruction art' I Am Here invited the gallery visitors to stencil the words 'I am here' as part of a running print. By stenciling over others’ own declarations of presence, the visitor is at once eraser and erased: her individualism disappears. Emblematic of... Read more

Long Story Short

Sabrina Amrani Gallery - Madrid 9 Sep - 13 Nov 2021 'Sabrina Amrani is pleased to present Long Story Short for Apertura 2021, a group exhibition that brings together ten works by ten gallery artists, each representing one year of the gallery history. Ten universes and concerns that gallerists and artists share, from the perspective of drawing as a reminder of... Read more

(Solo Show) The Eternal Return of the Same

Cromwell Place - London 2 - 9 Jun 2021 'The artworks in the exhibition not only deepen AlDowayan’s nuanced interrogation of women’s shifting status within a metamorphosing Saudi society, but also intensifies her exploration of new material. A nod to Nietzsche’s concept of eternal recurrence, the title The Eternal Return of the Same captures gestures of repetition and iteration... Read more

Contemporary Ceramic from the Middle East

V&A Museum - London 19 May - 17 Oct 2021 'This display brings together for the first time contemporary artists from the Middle East and North Africa who work primarily in clay. The richness and inventiveness of their output reflects the vitality of current ceramic practice across the region.' More Info Read more

Reflections,Contemporary Art From the Middle East and North Africa

British Museum - London 17 May - 15 Aug 2021 'This display weaved together a rich tapestry of artistic expression from artists born in, or connected to, countries from Iran to Morocco. With drawings by artists trained everywhere from Paris to Jerusalem, and subject matters ranging from the Syrian uprisings to the burning of the National Library of Baghdad, it... Read more

Bum Bum Ba Ye (Under Pressure)

Sabrina Amrani Gallery - Madrid 20 Apr - 29 May 2021 'Bum bum ba ye [Under pressure] is a group show that invites us to reflect on the different tensions that shape our world, showcasing works by Manal AlDowayan, Amina Benbouchta, Gabriela Bettini, Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Babak Golkar, Ayesha Jatoi, Timothy Hyunsoo Lee, Mónica de Miranda, Edison Peñafiel, Dagoberto Rodríguez and Jorge... Read more

Light upon light: light art since the 1960s

Noor Riyadh - Riyadh 8 Mar - 12 Jun 2021 '“Light Upon Light: Light Art since the 1960s” is a landmark retrospective exhibition of light art divided into four sectional “rays” that survey light as an artistic medium: “Perceiving Light,” “Experiencing Light,” “Projecting Light,” and “Environmental Light.” Each ray blends time and unites established artists of diverse geographic origin. From... Read more

Breaking the Monument (Images of Resistence)

Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea (CGAC) - Santiago 25 Feb - 13 Jun 2021 'The power of images, symbols, icons, but also the political representation of history and its manipulations and omissions are matters that have been extensively addressed in the field of art theory and history. The new kind of monument is not the one that appears on a pedestal in a public... Read more

Ver Versus Ver

Sabrina Amrani Gallery - Madrid 4 Jul - 8 Aug 2020 'Ver versus ver, a group exhibition that invites to reflect about what is beyond the visible, including works by :mentalKLINIK, Manal AlDowayan, Joël Andrianomearisoa, Amina Benbouchta, Gabriela Bettini, Zoulikha Bouabdellah, Babak Golkar, Alexandra Karakashian, Waqas Khan, Nicène Kossentini, Timothy Hyunsoo Lee, Mónica de Miranda, Dagoberto Rodríguez, Jong Oh, Edison Peñafiel... Read more

Desert X

Royal Commission of AlUla - AlUla 31 Jan - 7 Mar 2020 'Desert X AlUla is a site-responsive exhibition that ran January 31 – March 7, 2020. The exhibition which took place in the desert of AlUla, an ancient oasis in Saudi Arabia, brought together a plurality of voices, co-curated by Saudi curators Raneem Farsi and Aya Alireza with Desert X Artistic... Read more

I Love You Urgently

21,39 Saudi Art Council - Jeddah 28 Jan - 18 Apr 2020 'I Love You, Urgently contends with the global climate emergency through a series of individual artistic explorations. Driven by emotion and curiosity, the 22 artists whose works are featured have embarked on personal journeys into the collective experience defining our epoch, seeking places of empathy and understanding.' Curator: Maya El... Read more

Durational Portrait: A Brief Overview of Video Art in Saudi Arabia

ATHR Gallery - Jeddah 19 Jan - 18 Apr 2020 '“New artistic mediums are rare, and by any measure, video ranks among the defining inventions of any kind in the 20th century. Once relegated to alternative spaces because some didn’t believe it could even be called art, video is now seen in museums and galleries across the world and counts... Read more

Letters: Fragments of a Memory

Warehouse 421 - Abu Dhabi 14 Nov 2019 - 16 Jan 2020 'Athr Art Gallery, Warehouse 421 and Abu Dhabi Art present a group show featuring 14 artists who draw from landscapes and cityscapes in the Arab world, the show is inspired by the book 'Letters to a Young Muslim' by the UAE Ambassador to France, H.E. Omar Saif Ghobash. ' More... Read more

Public/Private

Saudi Art Council - Jeddah 8 - 18 Jul 2019 'The video installation And I Had No Wings (2015) was included in an exibition in the historical location of Albalad in Jeddah. The exhibition was curated by Turki and Abdulrahman Al-Gazzaz, known as Bricklab, in collaboration with the Saudi Art Council and Ministry of Culture' Curators: Turki and Abdulrahman Al-Gazzaz... Read more

Your Voice Matters

Museum Arnehm - Arnhem 8 Mar - 12 May 2019 'In line with the national commemoration of 100 years of women's suffrage in the Netherlands. The discussion about the role of women and male-female relationships in society is more current than ever. Women around the world stand up for their rights and demand recognition. The right to drive, equal wages... Read more

The Nobel Museum

The Nobel Museum - Stockholm 3 Feb - 3 Mar 2019 Two art works were commissioned to respond to Nobel Prize winning laureates books: Midaq Alley By Nagiub Mahfouz and The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexavitch. More Info Read more

(Solo Show) What is and What Has Been

Sabrina Amrani Gallery - Madrid 12 Jan - 12 Feb 2019 'The show brings together works from the series 'The Choice', the very first works of AlDowayan in silver gelatins, that are the reflection of a continuous dialogue that affects the lives of millions of Arab women and that discusses the restrictions imposed on them due to the local traditions that... Read more

(Solo Show) Watch Before You Fall

Sabrina Amrani Gallery - Madrid 12 Jan - 30 Mar 2019 'Watch Before You Fall, a solo show by Manal AlDowayan. In this exhibition, AlDowayan looks at symbolism found in books written about women’s bodies, using soft sculpture, ceramics, and fabric. AlDowayan describes this exhibition as “a space that stands between fear and activism; the artworks are symbols of the resilience... Read more

Crude

Jameel Art Center - Dubai 11 Nov 2018 - 30 Mar 2019 'Bringing together 17 artists and collectives from the region and beyond, ‘Crude‘ explores oil as an agent of social, cultural and economic transformation across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as a driver of geo-political upheaval. Oil has been a trigger for misguided colonial adventures, wars and coups;... Read more

Tribe: Contemporary Photography from the Arab World

American University Museum, Katzen Arts Centre - Washington DC 10 Nov - 16 Dec 2018 'Tribe: Contemporary Photography from the Arab World is an exhibition highlighting a selection of artists published within the eight editions of Tribe—a magazine founded in Dubai that is dedicated to covering developments in photography and new media from the Arab World. The exhibition contextualizes an expansive field of image-based work... Read more

Femitopias

Rafael Boti Foundation - Cordoba 7 Jun - 28 Sep 2018 'Femitopías brings together some of the best examples of feminine vindictive art, including figures from the Muslim sphere, of enormous symbolic significance due to their historical relationship with Cordoba. But above all, it has the capacity to break with values and discourses, incorporating a feminist and integrating look to our... Read more

(Solo Show) Suspended Together

Aga Khan Museum - Toronto 29 May - 1 Oct 2018 'The Aga Khan Museum presents this summer’s installation, Suspended Together, which floats above the courtyard café in the Museum’s atrium until October, is a flock of 30 birds representing Manal AlDowayan's response to Saudi Arabia’s travel restrictions.' More Info Read more

Melancholia

Boghossian Foundation - Brussels 15 Mar - 19 Aug 2018 'The exhibition examines the origins and manifestations of this feeling – manifest in both the East and the West since ancient history – which unremittingly reminds us of a lost origin, and instills in us a sense of mourning for a past world. “Those who have been eminent in philosophy,... Read more

10 Years Later

Tashkeel - Dubai 13 Mar - 26 Apr 2018 'Tashkeel will celebrate a decade of art and design by presenting new work commissioned by creatives whose careers it has helped shape and, in turn, whose practice has been part of the organisation’s growth.' Curator: Lateefa bint Maktoum More Info Read more

Dearest Women

Royal College of Art - London 1 Jan - 31 Dec 2018 'A series by Manal AlDowayan Fear distorts the feeling of time. The fear of pain or death creates a need to address the finite by searching for delay, pause or transcendence into the infinite. My art practice is the medium of my temporality. My subjects are the markers of my... Read more

(Solo Show) You Are From Me and I am From You

Abu Dhabi Art - AlAin 9 Nov 2017 - 16 Jan 2018 Comissioned by the Department of Culture and Arts in Abu Dhabi to respond to a UNESCO hertitage site in AlAin Oasis, UAE. Curators: Turki and Abdulrahman Al-Gazzaz More Info Read more

Desert To Delta: Contemporary Art in Memphis

The Art Museum of the University of Memphis - Memphis 8 Oct 2017 - 6 Jan 2018 'Curated by AMUM, selected work ranges from seemingly traditional manuscript illumination to bold “calligraffiti,” from bronze sculpture to sound and “scent” portraits, from cell-phone photography to multi-media installation. Saudi artists address issues that resonate throughout the world: environmental degradation, economic disparity, urban growth and loss of traditional culture, social inequality... Read more

Letters

ATHR Gallery - Jeddah 11 Jun - 30 Sep 2017 'Omar Saif Ghobash's 'letters' to his 'young Muslim' [son] serves as the pivot around which 36 artists respond to in this latest exhibition. In the contemporary globalized world we live in, shaped by money, military and media, finding space to value the authentic and interpret the unadulterated is a feat... Read more

100 Masterpieces of Modern and Contemporary Arab Art

Institut du Monde Arabe - Paris 28 Feb - 2 Jul 2017 'Complied in 2010, the collection of Sultan Al Qassemi includes the works by leading figures of modern and contemporary Arab art. Managed by the Barjeel Foundation, a private foundation located in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, the collection will be presented for the first time in France in the... Read more

Bayn (In Between)

Warehouse421 - Abu Dhabi 25 Feb - 25 Apr 2017 'The exhibition centres on new commissioned works that explore the divide between the recent past and contemporary incarnations, examining what lies between those two lives. Manal will be showing her work Tree of Guardians in the third exhibition organised by UAE Unlimited, entitled 'Bayn: the In-Between', which will be held... Read more

(Solo Show) I Am Here

Rojas + Rubensteen Projects - Miami 17 Feb - 26 Mar 2017 'On the heels of the inauguration, personhood will not be denied, concealed in fabric, or turned into a number on a registry. AlDowayan explores what defines who we are at the most granular level - our thoughts, bodies, personal histories, religious choices. Her photography, installation + mixed media work narrate... Read more

Safar

21,39 Jeddah Arts - Jeddah 1 Feb - 6 May 2017 'This 4th edition is designed as an educational platform that explores the notion of travel and movement as a vehicle for learning and growth. Conceived as both a public forum for creative experimentation, as well as a visual arts exhibition, Safar will feature artworks by Manal from her Crash series.'... Read more

(Solo Show) And I, Will I Forget?

Sabrina Amrani Gallery - Madrid 11 Jan - 26 Feb 2017 'Watch Before You Fall, the highly anticipated solo exhibition by Manal AlDowayan, which is her second exhibition at the gallery and the inaugural show of the second space of the gallery in Madrid. In Watch Before You Fall, AlDowayan attempts to fragment these symbols and reconstruct them to create a... Read more

(Solo Show) And I, Will I Forget?

New York University Gallery - New York 19 Sep - 16 Dec 2016 'In her exhibition, And I, Will I Forget, Manal Al Dowayan visually explores the theme of memory by focusing on the act of forgetting or erasing the past. The silk screened and mixed media works explore the lost stories behind approximately 1,000 Kodachrome slides her father gave to her as... Read more

Imperfect Chronology - Mapping the Contemporary II

Whitechapel Gallery - London 23 Aug 2016 - 8 Jan 2017 'The exhibition focuses on the theme of mapping geographies, examining the notion of statehood and exploring how artists engage with the rapidly expanding cities of the Arab region. Drawn from the Barjeel Art Foundation collection of modern and contemporary Arab art, this is the final display in a year-long series... Read more

Genera#ion: Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia

Minnesota Street Project - San Francisco 11 Aug - 6 Sep 2016 'GENERA#ION: Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia, presents San Francisco’s first exhibition of contemporary art from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This timely, cross-generational survey of artists working at the center of the Islamic world. GENERA#ION marks the third stop on a multi-city Saudi artist’s tour of the United States, and... Read more

Illumination

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art - Copenhagen 1 Mar - 11 Sep 2016 'Louisiana presents a cornucopia of international contemporary and classic works of art acquired over the past three years – more than fifty works within painting, photography, sculpture and installation. Illumination is set to be an exciting encounter with a wide field of both familiar and unfamiliar artists: Andreas Gursky, Franz... Read more

Earth and Ever After

21,39 Jeddah Arts - Jeddah 10 Feb - 23 Apr 2016 'The Earth is the collective memory that is bound to our subconscious. She is a reflection of ourselves, manifesting herself as a constant flow of images that teem with scent, taste and colour. This exhibition invites you to reflect on humanity’s relationship with the Earth, to explore whether it is... Read more

Looking at the World Around You

Fundacion Banco Santander - Madrid 9 Feb - 19 Jun 2016 'An exhibition that opened in Madrid at the Fundación Banco Santander showing works by contemporary artists from across North Africa and the Middle East includes Arab-inspired paintings by Goya and Magritte alongside works by Mona Hatoum, Shirin Neshat, Wael Shawky and Manal Al Dowayan among others.The Arab art show is... Read more

(Solo Show) And I, Will I Forget?

Cuadro Art Gallery - Dubai 4 Feb - 31 Mar 2016 'This collection is presented as a solo show titled 'And I, Will I Forget?' A collection inspired from a box of Kodachrome slides shot between 1962 and 1973 in Saudi Arabia and USA. Manal inherited these images as a child and has been playing with them her whole life. In... Read more

Do It

Sharjah Art Foundation - Sharjah 23 Jan - 23 Apr 2016 'Co-curated by Sharjah Art Foundation Director Hoor Al Qasimi and Serpentine Gallery co-Director Hans Ulrich Obrist, do it بالعربي is a new iteration of the ongoing do it publication and exhibition project originally founded and curated by Obrist in 1993. Manal Participates with a instructional work titled 'I Am Here'.'... Read more

Walls and Margins

Barjeel Art Foundation - Sharjah 21 Oct 2015 - 1 Feb 2016 'Soon after people learned how to lead a sedentary lifestyle, and began building permanent dwellings and settlements, the idea of a protective fence was developed. Devised as a security measure, it is a separation of what is in versus what is out, what is accessible versus what is off limits.... Read more

Home Ground

Barjeel Art Foundation and Aga Khan Museum - Sharjah 25 Jul 2015 - 1 Sep 2016 'The connection one feels to place is an abstract notion, often spoken of in terms of memories, habits, rituals, and experiences. It is elusive, yet always present. Home Ground addresses the struggles associated with navigating geo-political barriers, and explores ways in which identity is shaped by one’s relationship with a... Read more

Shubbak Festival: What is Home?

Pump House Gallery - London 16 Jul - 9 Aug 2015 'We all think we have the answer to the question What Is Home? - be it the building, town or country we live in, the people we live with or even the objects we surround ourselves with. At the Pump House Gallery the work of a group of Arabian artists... Read more

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

YAY Gallery - Baku 11 Jun - 31 Aug 2015 'This exhibition will bring together the work of four artists from the Middle East and North America, including a specially commissioned work entitled Mapping Baku, by Roberto Lopardo. Held in collaboration with Cuadro Gallery, Dubai, artists Camille Zakharia, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Roberto Lopardo and Manal AlDowayan will use a range... Read more

Colla Curating: Sculptural Perspectives

Tashkeel Al Faidi - Dubai 15 - 31 Mar 2015 'An exhibition featuring two artworks by Manal AlDowayan that artist/curator Areej Kaoud responds to with artworks of her own. This project is first in a series of shows that explores curating as an art practice that is articulated via collaborations between artists. For this exhibition, Kaoud uses two of AlDowayan's... Read more

(Solo Show) I Had No Wings

Rolls-Royce Art Programme, Alserkal Avenue - Dubai 9 Mar - 9 Apr 2015 'A video and sound installation. I Had No Wings questions the symbolism of designated spaces and focuses on the experience of being in the backseat of a moving car. The images and sounds in this project were filmed by Manal from the back seat of a car driving around the... Read more

Anonymous was A Woman

Hafez Gallery - Jeddah 9 Mar - 15 Oct 2015 'It is the misconception of many that figurative art in Saudi Arabia has ceased to exist altogether. It is true that artists approach the subject with great caution due to the mixed interpretations to prohibition in representing the human form or any living things and opinions are still divided, often... Read more

Islamic Art Now: Contemporary Art of the Middle East

Los Angeles County Museum - Los Angeles 1 Feb 2015 - 3 Jan 2016 'In recent years, the parameters of Islamic art have expanded to include contemporary works by artists from or with roots in the Middle East. Drawing inspiration from their own cultural traditions, these artists use techniques and incorporate imagery and ideas from earlier periods. LACMA has only recently begun to acquire... Read more

Prospect 3: Notes for Now

Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans - New Orleans 25 Oct 2014 - 25 Jan 2015 'In Walker Percy’s 1961 novel The Moviegoer the protagonist Binx Bolling is consumed by “the search” in the week leading up to his 30th birthday. The novel, set in a time of heightened social awareness in the first half of the decade’s movement for civil rights in America, delves into... Read more

Songs of Love and Song of Loss, Oum Kalthoum and Lee-Nan Young

Gwangju Museum of Art - Gwangju 19 May - 25 Aug 2014 'The premise of the exhibition Songs of Loss and Songs of Love is based on an imagined encounter between two singers: Oum Kulthoum (1904–1975) from Egypt and Lee Nan-Young from Korea (1916–1967). Both legendary within their geographical and cultural spheres, the two singers were in Paris at the same time... Read more

The Other and Me

Sharjah Art Foundation - Sharjah 1 May - 1 Jun 2014 'This exhibition comes as part of an expansive program of significant cultural events that mark the celebration of the city of Sharjah having been awarded the title of the Capital of Islamic Culture for 2014. The exhibition will feature approximately 30 or more artists and will highlight the international currents... Read more

(Solo Show) Crash

Cuadro Art Gallery - Dubai 17 Mar - 30 Apr 2014 'A conclusion to her research conducted during her residency in Mathaf Museum of Modern Arab Art in Doha she has created an exhibition that documents the alarming numbers of Saudi female teachers that are injured or die in car accidents every year. For these women, the combination of low pay,... Read more

FotoFest. View from Inside: Contemporary Arab Video, Photography and Mixed Media Art

Fotofest 2014 Biennial - Houston 15 Mar - 27 Apr 2014 'The FotoFest 2014 Biennial, the 15th International Biennial of Photography and Photo-related Art, is March 15 - April 27, 2014. FotoFest's own exhibitions for the 2014 Biennial will focus on Contemporary Arab Photographic Art, including video and multi-media installations. The Biennial will showcase more than 40 contemporary Arab artists using... Read more

Moallaqat

21, 39 Jeddah Arts - Jeddah 1 Feb - 30 Apr 2014 'This exhibition demonstrates that whilst the world has changed dramatically since the time of the Moallaqat, there is nevertheless a way of life, modes of thought, and cultural foundations that have survived and that have been passed down from generation to generation along with the legend. You will, therefore, find... Read more

Arab Contemporary: Architectura, Culture and Identity

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art - Humlebaek 31 Jan - 4 May 2014 Curators: Kjeld Kjeldsen, Mette Marie and Poul Erik Tøjner More Info Read more

(Solo Show) Crash

Mathaf - Doha 13 Jan - 26 Mar 2014 'In Crash, Manal AlDowayan transforms Mathaf’s “Project Space” into a temporary artist studio. Over the course of the two-month project, AlDowayan opens this studio to the public, unfolding the process and materials of her research on the frequent car accidents that take the lives of female schoolteachers in Saudi Arabia.... Read more

Now Babylon

Louisiana Museum of Modern Art - Copenhagen 1 Jan - 31 Dec 2014 'In the exhibition NOW BABYLON we turn our attention to the Arab world. A world that geographically, climatically, demographically and culturally differs enormously over the span from Baghdad to Saudi Arabia to Morocco. Only the Arabic language, with its variations, is common to all 22 countries in the Arab world,... Read more

Paintings, Sculptures, and Projects Garden

Museum of Modern Arab Art - Doha 10 Dec 2013 - 9 Feb 2014 'The concept of a garden expresses the idea of culture, the diversity of Mathaf’s unique Collection of modern and contemporary art, and tells of multiple histories to be explored. The modern museum is a place for intellectual and artistic production that responds to the need of society to recognize and... Read more

Cinema on the Steps

ICA Theater on the Mall - London 20 - 22 Aug 2013 'Cinema on the Steps brings an exciting selection of contemporary Middle Eastern artists' film to an outdoor cinema on The Mall. Sitting on the Duke of York steps, audiences will be able to watch three individually curated evenings of artists' films by some of the leading names working in the... Read more

(Solo Show) The State of Disappearance

Cuadro Art Gallery - Dubai 13 Mar - 4 May 2013 'Manal AlDowayan’s exploration of disappearance led her to its counterbalance – the necessary act of conservation. She explores the preservation of definitions through both language and images, relying on two sources, Abu Mansour AlTha’alby AlNaysaboury’s “Jurisprudence of a Language: The Secrets of Arabic,” and daily newspapers from Saudi Arabia.' More... Read more

(Solo Show) Journey of Belonging

Athr Gallery - Jeddah 16 Jan - 15 Feb 2013 'Introducing new work by the artist as well as seminal work from her previous series. The exhibition explores the artist’s frequent voyages into the past in search of understanding and mutual acceptance. With the intersecting of key works from the artist’s different series under one roof, a pattern emerges, a... Read more

A Subtle Perfume

Space CAN - Seoul 27 Nov - 28 Dec 2012 'Contemporary Arab Artists from the international community, who have been working actively overseas, with the purpose of illuminating the value of women’s art and women’s roles in the fine arts and in society. This project is sponsored by Art Council Korea and organized by the CAN foundation and curated by... Read more

Light from the Middle East: New Photography

Victoria and Albert Museum - London 13 Nov 2012 - 7 Apr 2013 'Photography is a powerful and persuasive means of expression. Its immediacy and accessibility make it an ideal choice for artists confronting the social challenges and political upheavals of the Middle East today. Light from the Middle East: New Photography presented work by artists from across the Middle East (spanning North... Read more

Soft Power

AlAan Art Center - Riyadh 13 Oct - 10 Dec 2012 'The inaugural exhibition SoftPower features new commissions by emerging artists Sarah Abu Abdallah and Sarah Mohanna Al-Abdali and a special loan by Manal Al Dowayan. While varied in style and methodology, their works employ a nuanced and at times humorous approach towards exploring the position of women within contemporary society,... Read more

#COMETOGETHER

Edge of Arabia - London 7 - 28 Oct 2012 'The title, #COMETOGETHER, is a deliberate reference to social networking channels, which have transformed the nature and power of individual expression across the Islamic World in recent years. This exhibit presents glimpses of a worldview that is incredibly connected, with artists moving effortlessly across mediums and platforms, and drawing from... Read more

(Solo Show) Esmi (My Name)

Cuadro Fine Art Gallery - Dubai 1 Sep - 31 Oct 2012 'Manal AlDowayan’s installation of prayer beads is her second participatory project with the women of Saudi Arabia. The artist called out to women across the Kingdom to join her in creating a piece that addresses the Saudi custom of not uttering a woman’s name. The individual beads carry the names... Read more

(Solo Show) If I Forget You Dont Forget Me

Cuadro Fine Art Gallery - Dubai 19 Mar - 9 May 2012 Curator: Bashar Al Shroogi More Info Read more

MinD/Body

Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Center (DUCTAC) - Dubai 7 Mar 2012 - 10 Apr 2013 'MinD/Body exhibition explores the role of the body and self-censorship in contemporary art from the Gulf to investigate the creative and exhibitive freedom of the artist. MinD/Body will see experimental artworks in a range of media (including video, installation, painting, photography and performance art) showcased throughout the DUCTAC complex. The... Read more

(Solo Show) Manal Aldowayan

Katara Art Center - Doha 9 Feb - 10 Apr 2012 'A Retrospective of Manal’s artworks will be exhibited at Doha’s Katara Art Center. The exhibition will span the artist’s career and will include works from her “I Am”, “Landscapes of the Mind”, “And We Had No Shared Dreams”, and her new art piece “My Name”. ' More Info Artworks included:... Read more

Simply Words?

AB Gallery - Lucerne 5 Feb - 10 Mar 2012 'The exhibition SIMPLY WORDS? deals with the word - a phenomenon that is not understandable for all. How can the word transcend cultural boundaries? Where is its place in a globalised, digital world? Having explored these questions in various ways the four following artists will now present their work at... Read more

We Need To Talk

Edge of Arabia - Jeddah 20 Jan - 26 Feb 2012 'Ranging from video to sculpture to installation, the exhibition featured over 40 new works by Saudi’s emerging contemporary artists, including: Abdulnasser Gharem, Adwa AlMubarak, Ahaad Alamoudi, Ahmed Angawi, Ahmed Mater, Ayman Yossri Daydban, Effat Fadaag, Eyad Maghazel, Hala Ali, Hamza Serafi, Ibrahim Abumsmar, Jowhara AlSaud, Maha Malluh, Manal Al-Dowayan, Mohammed... Read more

Metropolis: City Life in the Urban Age

Noorderlicht Festival - Groningen 11 Sep - 9 Oct 2011 'Since the beginning of the 21st century, more than half of the world's population are living in cities. Metropolis:­ City Life in the Urban Age shows the many faces of the modern city. Noorderlicht organizes its 18th International Photofestival, in which diverse photographic genres and series are welded into a... Read more

The Future of a Promise

Venice Biennale - Venice 3 Jun - 30 Nov 2011 'The Future of a Promise will be the largest Pan-Arab show of contemporary art at the 54th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia. From Tunisia all the way to Saudi Arabia, this landmark exhibition brings together more than twenty-five recent works and commissions by some of the foremost... Read more

The Bravery of Being Out of Range

ATHR Gallery - Jeddah 17 May - 11 Jun 2011 'We live in a world where the golden arches are the most recognisable icon and a mere poke replaces a hug. This global system of intertwining networks creates a double edged sword. On the one hand, it has eroded any sense of authenticity and individuality and created an ethic of... Read more

Freedom to Create

Mumbai, New York.... 1 May - 31 Dec 2011 'Freedom to Create Exhibitions celebrates the power of the creative arts to heal, inspire and build social capital. It is is a physical manifestation of how creativity is being used to drive social change around the world. Each year, a selection of highly commended entries for the Freedom to Create... Read more

Terminal

Edge of Arabia - Dubai 14 Mar - 15 Apr 2011 'In a highly conceptual and experiential exhibition, TERMINAL addresses the concept of travel, bureaucracy, privacy and identity, creating a pop-­up exhibition in an abandoned ground-­floor space in the DIFC. Guiding the viewer through a real-­life airport experience, from check-­in, through security, and on towards the-­globalised world.' Curator: Bashar Al Shroogi... Read more

Strike Oppose

Barjeel Art Foundation - Sharjah 11 Mar - 28 Sep 2011 'A play on words of the expression “strike a pose”, the words “strike oppose” in conversation may sound like a command to model oneself for a camera snapshot, however on closer inspection the phrase comprises two words that denote resistance. The artworks inspect different forms of opposition or acquiescence to... Read more

Right Here Right Now

Cuadro Fine Art Gallery - Dubai 9 Mar - 9 Apr 2011 'The six artists in Right Here, Right Now share the experience of having a transnational identity. It is a challenge to distill elements of their persona as being truly drawn from their countries of origin, having been distanced from them through exile, globalization or both. Their self-expression is therefore one... Read more

Look Beyond

Opec Fund for International Development - Vienna 11 Jan - 28 Feb 2011 '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,... Read more

(Solo Show) And We Were Speaking Together Through Silence

Sultan Gallery - Kuwait 20 Dec 2010 - 31 Jan 2011 'Saudi Arabian lens-based artist Manal AI-Dowayan explores the state of solitude within shared spaces and the loss and reinforcement of identity within this state of isolation. The second artist-in-residence at Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, AI-Dowayan joined The Arts Residency program in May, 2010 and will remain in residence until the... Read more

Transition

Edge of Arabia - Istanbul 10 Nov - 11 Dec 2010 'TRANSiTION showcased the work of 22 emerging Saudi artists pushing the boundaries of contemporary art practice in the Kingdom. These artists, whose work spanned a full range of installation, performance, photography, painting, video and sculpture, represent a new generation of creative voices, reaching out across borders. The title TRANSiTION referenced... Read more

(Solo Show) And We Had No Shared Dreams

Cuadro Fine Art Gallery - Dubai 10 Oct - 30 Nov 2010 Cities have sounds. The sound is ever-present, an expanding and contracting energy resonating within a single space. The city inhales, with difficulty, tension building, until it exhales - an intense release. With every breath the city takes, people gravitate towards it with a longing for the happiness that it promises.... Read more

Fluid Form I: Contemporary Art From Arab Countries in Seoul

Korea Culture Foundation and Museum of Modern Art - Seoul 6 Jul - 22 Aug 2010 'Fluid Form I, an exhibition to shed light on Arab countries’ modern urban design and art aims to explore how humanity’s existence, population movement, and identity alteration reflect, influence, and interact with one another, bringing contemporary Arab art and architecture in the era of globalized communication to the spotlight. It... Read more

Grey Borders/Grey Frontiers

Edge of Arabia - Berlin 10 Jun - 18 Jul 2010 'On the occasion of the 6th Berlin Biennale, Edge of Arabia launched Grey Borders/Grey Frontiers, the first exhibition of contemporary art from Saudi Arabia ever held in Germany. Showing at The Vinyl Factory Gallery, Torstraße 1, and curated by Dubai-based Rami Farook, this exhibition marked the first major stop of... Read more

Kan Ya Makan (Once Upon a Time)

Bait Muzna Gallery - Muscat 18 Jan - 25 Feb 2010 'On the occasion of its 10th anniversary, and as the skylines over the Gulf States are rapidly changing, Bait Muzna Gallery in Muscat, Oman, brings together five artists who reflect on the impact of these changes onto the inhabitants' daily lives and social structures. From nostalgic perspectives to disappearing ways... Read more

Edge of Arabia: 53r Venice Biennale

Palazzo Contarini dal Zaffo Polignac - Venice 5 Jun - 9 Aug 2009 'In June 2009, Edge of Arabia travelled to Italy for the 53rd Venice Biennale, and was described as ‘the best representation of Middle Eastern art in the Biennale’. The exhibition, curated by Stephen Stapleton, Abdulnasser Gharem and Ahmed Mater in the celebrated Palazzo Polignac and visited by over 11,000 visitors,... Read more

Edge of Arabia

The Brunei Gallery, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London - London 8 Oct - 13 Dec 2008 Curators: Stephen Stapleton & Ahmed Mater More Info Artworks included: The Choice I Am Read more

The Right to Space: Gulf women art exhibition

Al Riwaq Gallery - Manama 11 - 27 Mar 2008 Curator: Al Riwaq Gallery Read more

Self Representation in the Arabian Gulf: Perspectives in Photography and Video

Gallery of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Arts - Doha 24 Oct - 1 Dec 2007 'Manal Al-Dowayan enacts career portraits of historical Saudi women. At the same time she points to the role of the woman artist in contrast to the 'respectable' careers of engineering and medicine. The images remind one of high school portraits in which the students are asked to imagine what they... Read more

The City & the Street: 4th Muscat Circle Exhibition

Public Space - Muscat 23 Jan - 2 Feb 2007 'Circle artists are anything but conventional. This year, for the fourth Muscat Circle Exhibition, they have taken to the streets with contemporary installations out in the open air in Al Khuwair and Mutrah Souq. Indoors, they are at the Bait Muzna Gallery and at the new Bait Al Baranda Museum.... Read more

(Solo Show) Look Beyond the Veil

Dhahran Art Group - Dhahran 12 Oct 2006 Exhibition that took place at Dhahran Art Group. Artworks included: Look Beyond the Veil I Am The Choice Read more

Common Ground

Arabian Gulf Region 1 Jan - 31 Dec 2006 Touring exhibition around the arabian Gulf region. Artworks included: Look Beyond the Veil I Am Read more

Imagining Ourselves

International Museum of Women - Online 1 Jan - 31 Dec 2006 Imagining Ourselves, an award-winning exhibition of the International Museum of Women, connects young women around the world and inspires them to create positive change—in their own lives, their communities, or globally. More than a million people have participated in the project, which includes a published anthology, a series of global... Read more

Fusions

Dhahran Art Group - Dhahran 1 Jan - 31 Dec 2006 Exhibition that took place at Dhahran Art Group. Read more