Saudi Arabia’s leading cultural center Ithra unveils winning artwork of 5th Ithra Art Prize
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The winning artwork of the 5th edition of the Ithra Art Prize, ON (عن) by Iraqi-Finnish artist Adel Abidin, will be unveiled in Ithra’s Great Hall on September 13, 2023
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The open call for the 6th edition of the Ithra Art Prize in partnership with the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) is currently open for submissions, until September 30, 2023
DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA, September 13, 2023 – The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) unveils the winning artwork of the 5th Ithra Art Prize, ON (عن) by Iraqi-Finnish artist Adel Abidin, selected from over 10,000 submissions by an esteemed jury of international academics, gallerists, curators and artists. ON (عن) will be unveiled at Ithra before joining Ithra’s prestigious permanent collection.
The Ithra Art Prize awards the winning artist $100,000 in addition to the full funding required to bring their project to fruition, making this the largest art grant in the region. Open to submissions from all Arab countries, the Ithra Art Prize celebrates and propels the growing creative landscape of the Arab region, providing support and a global platform to artists shaping this landscape.
Abidin’s work confronts the subjectivity of purportedly factual historical discourses by re-examining the oral history accounts of the rebellion of 869AD in Iraq with more nuance and inclusion of previously overlooked perspectives. The repeated stamping of the word ‘ON’ in Arabic script (عن), connoting the oral tradition of storytelling that is lost from historical records, create a large-scale wall installation of overlapping visual representations of different, even contradictory, versions of the rebellion’s history, to present an overall abstract work for the viewer to interpret through their own subjective lens.
Abidin said: “This process creates a vivid representation of the 14-year rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate and offers a fresh perspective on this significant event in Arab history. The resulting wall installation highlights the ultimate fragility of history and the organic, but unreliable, nature of memory.”
Farah Abushullaih, Head of Museum at Ithra, said: “We are delighted to unveil Adel Abidin’s work alongside the previous Ithra Art Prize winners, to showcase the leading contemporary artists who have been recognised by the Ithra Art Prize and reflect on its increasing influence since its inception in 2017. The unveiling provides an excellent opportunity to take a retrospective view over the Prize’s evolution and to look towards our exciting partnership with the Royal Commission for AlUla to collaborate with Arts AlUla on the next edition of the Prize, which is currently open for submissions.”
The open call for the 6th edition of the Ithra Art Prize, Art in the Landscape, launched on August 2, 2023 in collaboration with Arts AlUla, as part of a wider strategic partnership with the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), calling for submissions of public artwork proposals that are site-specific to AlUla and that present interpretations of the region’s unique landscapes and outstanding natural heritage. The open call will close on September 30, 2023 and the winning artwork will be selected by a jury panel of industry experts and creatives: Farah Abushullaih (Head of Museum at Ithra), Nora Aldabal (Executive Director, Arts and Creative Industries at RCU), Mohamed Ibrahim (artist), Sophie Makariou (Scientific Director of The French Agency for AlUla Development, AFALULA) and Aric Chen (General and Artistic Director of Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam). The winning piece will then be unveiled as a part of the Arts AlUla Festival, on February 8, 2024, to be exhibited in the AlUla Oasis for six weeks before joining Ithra’s permanent collection.
Noura Alzamil, Manager of Programs at Ithra, said: “Both Ithra and RCU have a longstanding commitment to providing enriching opportunities to artists in the region in order to propel our growing creative economy. We are truly honored to launch the 6th Ithra Art Prize in collaboration with RCU, encouraging artists to reflect Saudi Arabia’s outstanding natural heritage in their work and we look forward to uniting our efforts to support culture, art, and creativity across the Kingdom and beyond, as part of our wider strategic partnership with RCU.”
