Inside Abdullah Al Othman’s assemblages of memory and decay

Welcome to AL-MONITOR Riyadh.

This week, we spotlight a significant solo exhibition of mixed-media works by Saudi artist Abdullah Al Othman at ATHR Gallery’s Riyadh space exploring the continuous, ever-changing states of the past and present. We also highlight a solo exhibition by Saudi artist Sultan Bin Fahad at Leila Heller Gallery in Dubai, reflecting the intersection of African American jazz and Islam from the 1940s to the 1970s, as well as a show featuring works by seven Middle Eastern calligraphy artists and a visit to one of Riyadh’s newest and most popular shawarma spots.

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Happy reading,

Rebecca

P.S. Have feedback or tips on Riyadh's culture scene? Send them my way at contactus@al-monitor.com.

1. Leading the week: ‘Syntax of the Ever-Changing’

Abdullah Al Othman. “Detritus of Memory.” 2026. (Photo courtesy of the artist and ATHR Gallery)

Mixed-media works combining photography, archival imagery and materials by Saudi artist Abdullah Al Othman line the walls of ATHR Gallery in Riyadh’s JAX District. Each work comprises industrial components, including corrugated metal sheets, found sepia-toned photographs capturing a Saudi Arabia of long ago, nails, steel and discarded wood. The works oscillate between the present and the past, giving the sense of something that has been used, discarded, repurposed and imbued with new meaning.

In “Syntax of the Ever-Changing,” Othman, a newly represented artist at ATHR Gallery, draws from observation, photography and the gathering of archival fragments to reflect what he calls the “vocabulary” of the built environment. His works poetically reflect on how our urban surroundings continuously expand, collapse, accumulate and reform. Having long worked in assemblage, combining diverse textures, surfaces, colors and industrial remnants, Othman’s creative practice resembles the construction of new syntaxes that attempt to articulate what language cannot fully express.

What is most poignant about these works is the way they incorporate found materials marked by time, labor and erosion into layered compositions that become carriers of both personal and collective memory. Curated by Rotana Shaker and Ahmed Alaqra, the exhibition highlights how construction debris is reassembled into Othman’s framed structures, where residue itself becomes the primary source of meaning. Elsewhere, archival and contemporary photographs are disrupted through painterly interventions, while architectural materials are stripped of their utility and restructured into dense accumulations of texture and sediment. Each work remains suspended between states of incompletion and becoming.

Date: until Aug. 20

Location: ATHR Gallery Riyadh in the JAX Arts District, Diriyah, Riyadh

Find more information here.

2. Word on the street: Tayibat Al Madina

A mouthwatering shawarma at Tayibat Al Madina in Riyadh. (Photo courtesy of Tayibat Al Madina)

Craving a shawarma? Tayibat Al Madina, a popular, modern and highly rated shawarma spot that opened in Riyadh last December, has quickly become known for its delicious, crispy, toasted and juicy shawarmas. For lovers of shawarmas — the popular Middle Eastern street food served across the region in countless variations — Tayibat Al Madina is a must-visit. Be sure to try the chicken sarookh and tabbouleh options with pomegranate molasses. If you’re looking for a quick Arabic meal filled with flavor, this is the spot!

Location: Al-Takhassousi Road, Riyadh

Find more information here.

3. Riyadh diary

Sultan Bin Fahad. “Lawrence of Newark.” 2023. Beads on canvas. (Photo courtesy of the artist and Leila Heller Gallery)

• ‘Blue Note: A Turn to the East’ by Sultan Bin Fahad 

This solo exhibition featuring the works of Saudi artist Sultan Bin Fahad traces the early history of jazz music and the ways it has manifested through diverse forms of artistic production and expression. On the walls of Leila Heller Gallery in Dubai are canvases and intricately beaded tapestries by Fahad, developed through archival research and interviews. Elsewhere in the exhibition, Fahad turns to vivid depictions of power and identity, representing lesser-known and underrepresented aspects of jazz history. This reflects, as Fahad explains, “the remixings of African American jazz and Islam.” 

Date: until Sept. 16

Location: Leila Heller Gallery, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai 

Find more information here.

• Diriyah Art Futures launches inaugural Art Futures Camp 2026

The Middle East and North Africa region’s first center dedicated to new media art has announced the launch of its inaugural Art Futures Camp 2026. Aimed at Arabic-speaking teens aged 14 to 18, the program is designed to foster creative curiosity and provide foundational skills in cutting-edge artistic techniques. The camp’s 2026 theme, “Digital Art and Portraiture,” prompts participants to explore the question, “How do you represent a person when faces are data, identities are fluid and images travel without you?”

Date: June 28 - July 16

Location: Diriyah Art Futures, Diriyah, Riyadh

Find more information here.

• ‘Under One Roof’

This comprehensive exhibition at Gallery Naila brings together heritage and innovation through the work of seven of the world's most renowned artists specializing in Arabic calligraphy. Participating artists include Dawood Becktash, Seyet Depeler, Shren Abdelhalim, Osman Ozcay, Fahad AlMajhadi, Mohammad Farouq Haddad and Wisam Shawkat.

Date: until June 7

Location: Gallery Naila

Find more information here.

4. Book of the week

Set against the backdrop of the historic city of Jeddah, this contemporary fiction novel by Rafael Hernández de Santiago, a Spanish national residing in Saudi Arabia, explores the delicate balance between cultural preservation and rapid modernization in Saudi Arabia.

The 132-page hardcover novel centers on the protagonists, Amir and Sarah, who dream of establishing a cultural park to safeguard one of Jeddah’s heritage districts. However, they face numerous challenges and significant resistance from powerful, profit-driven developers intent on demolishing the area.

The book opens with depictions of the stray cats that roam Al-Balad, the historic heart of Jeddah, and tells a lighthearted yet hopeful story about pursuing one’s ambitions amid the tension between honoring the past and embracing the future. 

5. View from Riyadh

Saudi traditional dance performers take part in the final draw ceremony for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in the Turaif historic district of Diriyah, on the outskirts of Riyadh, on May 9, 2026. The 19th edition of the Asian Cup is scheduled to take place from January 7 to February 5 next year in Saudi Arabia. (Fayez Nureldine / AFP via Getty Images)

6. By the numbers

• Riyadh Art, one of Riyadh’s flagship megaprojects launched in 2019, plans 115 additional public art installations through 2026 and beyond, adding to the 75 already installed throughout the capital. 
• The initiative aims to install more than 1,000 works of art across Riyadh by 2030. Its current collection includes contributions from 35 Saudi artists and 100 international artists representing 45 countries.