The Station Museum of Contemporary Art presented Parallel Kingdom: Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia, a cross generational survey of contemporary art from Saudi Arabia. This exhibition explored Saudi culture in America's Oil Capital through the lens of some the most influential and radical Saudi artists of the 21st century, alongside younger voices from the fields of art, comedy and film.
Parallel Kingdom marked the launch of a multi-city tour of the United States to generate people-to-people dialogue through the first hand accounts of Saudi artists, and lay a new foundation for discourse and understanding between the two countries.
In partnership with
Release Date
June 2018
Project Artists
Locations
STATION MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
HOUSTON, TEXAS
Parrallel Kingdom in Houston, Texas
The Station Museum of Contemporary Art organizes exhibitions that question our society's morality and ethics. It embraces the idea that art plays a critical role in society as an agent of creativity and civil discourse and as a resource that deepens and broadens public awareness of the cultural, political, economic, and personal dimensions of art.
Station Museum of Contemporary Art
Parrallel Kingdom in Houston, Texas
Much of our collective knowledge on Saudi Arabia comes through a mediated lens of politics, conflict and religion. For decades the
Kingdom has been linked to the U.S. and the West, through economics and politics. The boundaries of internal Saudi development are changing, and recently, the status of the artist has risen, challenging Western concepts of Saudi’s cultural history.
Station Museum of Contemporary Art
Parrallel Kingdom in Houston, Texas
"The older generation has more beliefs than knowledge, and our generation has more knowledge than beliefs. So we’re trying to find beliefs that can be harmonized with our knowledge."
Ajlan Gharem
Contemporary Saudi Arabian Artist Builds a Better Mousetrap in "Parallel Kingdom"
Perhaps he learned how to build the ultimate mousetrap during his stintas a lieutenant colonel in the Saudi Arabian army, but artist Abdulnasser Gharem's mixed-media installation, Capitol Dome, is a precariously balanced show-stopper over at the Station Museum of Contemporary Art. Read more...
Houston Chronicle
Contemporary Saudi Arabian Artist Builds a Better Mousetrap in "Parallel Kingdom"
On a massive platform of black plastic (resembling a sea of crude oil) rests the tilted edge of what looks to be the top level from our United States Capitol building, so monolithic that it touches the ceiling. It's similar to our dome within a dome, only this interior features an illuminated golden-hued mosque that bounces its arabesque and geometric patterns onto the reflective pool. Read more...
Houston Chronicle
Contemporary Saudi Arabian Artist Builds a Better Mousetrap in "Parallel Kingdom"
The exhibition includes work by a dozen artists from the Saudi Arabian peninsula, including four women. They can't drive, swim, interact with men or venture out without a chaperone, but their voices can be heard through art. Read more...
Houston Chronicle
Saudi Contemporary Artists Tour America
In June 2016, a group of Saudi artists, both men and women, acted upon a dream to discover the people and diversity of America—from the East to West coast–trekking across the US interstate highway system and major cities on a mission to share not only their innate passion to create but also to collaborate with the communities they encountered.
Bridges was one of the most significant Cultural Diplomacy initiatives ever undertaken between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States. Over two years, and working in partnership with cultural institutions across the U.S., Bridges attracted an estimated 430,000+ visitors to exhibitions and events across 10 cities and 13 States.
Abdulnasser Gharem, a former lieutenant colonel in the Saudi Arabian army, graduated from the King Abdulaziz Academy before attending The Leader Institute in Riyadh. In 2003 he studied at the influential Al- Meftaha Arts Village and later went on to start Gharem Studio in Riyadh.
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In June 2016, a group of Saudi artists acted upon a dream to discover the people and diversity of America—from the East to West coast–trekking across the US interstate highway system and major cities on a mission to collaborate with the communities they encountered.
A group of Saudi artists visit Dearborn, Michigan, to exhibit their artwork at The Arab American Museum, where locals get a chance to see tart coming from the Middle East first-hand.
