Rewinding the web: Jeddah’s early internet on display

Welcome to Al-Monitor Riyadh.

This week, we are highlighting an exhibition in Jeddah inspired by the early days of the internet, a group exhibition in Dubai that highlights the African diaspora in Saudi Arabia, a major multiyear exhibition dedicated to Islamic craftsmanship in Dhahran and a new memorandum of understanding between the Saudi Museums Commission and Kuwait’s Tareq Rajab Museum.

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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: “Internet Cafe”

Ahaad Alamoudi. “Land of Dreams,” 2018. (Courtesy of the artist)

This group exhibition takes inspiration from the early internet cafes that once were popular in Saudi Arabia during the early 1990s and 2000s. Reimagining virtual spaces as physical ones, the exhibition aims to reconnect with modern technology through the artistic renditions of simplified versions of technology from the early internet era such as flip phones, cassette players and iPods, and the transient geographies these devices inhabited.

The exhibition is staged by Estiraha, an artist-run initiative located between Riyadh and Jeddah, and co-founded by Abeer Sultan and Mbarak Madhi with the aim of developing what they call “a slow-paced artistic practice.”

“The exhibition is an attempt to bring people together by slowing down our consumption of the internet, even though the internet is fast-paced,” Sultan and Madhi said in a statement to Al-Monitor. “We are exploring the potential of making it slower by gathering in one cafe. This idea of a cafe isn’t limited to a physical space; it’s also virtual. What happens there becomes more meaningful through engagement rather than just passive consumption.”

The exhibition, curated by Madhi, Sultan and Fai Ahmed, draws inspiration from Benedict Anderson’s book “Imagined Communities,” in which he describes communities that may never meet but share a sense of belonging through common identity and culture. 

It presents the work of 16 artists, including Asaad Badawi, Ahaad Alamoudi, Dalal Madhi, Raghad Al Tamimi, Arwa Al Neami and Anhar Salem, among others.

One of Alamoudi’s works, titled “Land of Dreams,” features an image of a site-specific installation she created using her social media as a navigational tool. She shared an Open Location Code (OLC) that guided viewers to a stretch of land where she had placed 24 large billboards of the iconic pop singer Ahlam — whose name means “dreams” in Arabic — inviting the public to visit the location themselves.

In another work on display, Saudi artist Assad Badawi’s “Telephone Book” (2021) pays tribute to Arab tech pioneers.

“By referencing nostalgic pop culture,” add Sultan and Madhi, “the exhibition looks back in time to imagine the future, reflecting on how we use the internet today and why understanding our presence within it matters.”

Dates: June 20-28

Location: Kham Space, 6474 Saeed Ibn Zagr, Mishifah, Jeddah

Find more information here.

2. Word on the street: Casa Myrra

A view of zesty Mediterranean dishes at the new Casa Myrra, Riyadh. (Courtesy of Casa Myrra)

If you’re craving the fresh flavors of Mediterranean cuisine, then this new restaurant in Riyadh, which opened in mid-May in the heart of the Saudi capital, awaits you. Casa Myrra offers delicious specialties from Southern Europe. The restaurant, designed like a Southern European villa, is a great venue for both intimate one-on-one dinners and bigger gatherings with friends and family. The cuisine, featuring dishes predominantly from Greece and Spain, is top notch. Be sure to try one of the zesty Greek salads or the rich Spanish paella.

Location: Novotel Hotel, 13321, Olaya Street, Al Sahafa

Find more information here.

3. Riyadh diary

Sumayah Fallatah. “I became you, so I lost myself.” 2024. (Courtesy of the artist)

• “Time heals, just not quick enough …” at Efie Gallery

A group show at Efie Gallery in Dubai showcases works by African artists and two Saudi artists of African descent, reflecting powerful narratives revolving around healing and personal growth over the passing of time.

The exhibition, curated by Ose Ekore, presents the works of Samuel Fosso, Aida Muluneh, Kelani Abass, Abeer Sultan and Sumayah Fallatah. Both Sultan and Fallatah have West African heritage.

“I am a fourth-generation Saudi Arabian originally from Nigeria,” Fallatah tells Al-Monitor. “My family has been in Saudi Arabia for quite some time. My mother’s family has been here for only one generation, so she is first-generation Saudi.”

Through her work, Fallatah wanted to explore how her family lost their traditional Nigerian practices and the grief in losing this heritage. “How can we bring it back?” she asks.

Dates: Through July 30

Location: Efie Gallery, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz 1, Dubai

Find more information here.

• “In Praise of the Artisan”

Head to Saudi Arabia’s eastern province of Dhahran, where you can catch an extensive exhibition dedicated to Islamic craftsmanship. The exhibition, which opened in November alongside Ithra’s second edition of the Islamic Art Conference, showcases both historical and contemporary works, bringing together masterpieces from the renowned al-Sabah collection at Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah and the Tareq Rajab Museum in Kuwait, alongside pieces from Ithra’s own Islamic art collection. 

Curated by Idries Threvethan, curator of Islamic Art at Ithra, the exhibition presents over 130 works displayed according to material and craft, many of which have never been publicly displayed, including an 18th-century wooden interior from Damascus and the sacred 20th-century Kiswa cloth from the Ka’ba. 

Also on display are eight specially commissioned pieces, among which is the largest hand-carved stone screen created since the Taj Mahal in the 17th century.

Dates: Through December 2027

Location: Gallery 3 at Ithra, King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Dhahran

Find more information here.

• Saudi Museums Commission signs MoU with Kuwait’s Tareq Rajab Museum

At the end of May in the Arab Gulf State of Kuwait, Mona Khazindar, adviser to the Saudi minister of culture, representing the Museums Commission signed a memorandum of understanding with Ziad Tareq Rajab, director of the Tareq Rajab Museum, outlining areas of cultural cooperation and mutual interest to both entities. 

The two parties agreed to work closely together on artifact loans, exchange of research and temporary exhibitions that work to enrich the cultural content of both entities. During the signing, Khazindar underlined how the partnership reflects the Museums Commission’s commitment to establishing strategic partnerships with established private museums across the Arab region.

4. Book of the week: “The Man Who Created the Middle East”

At the age of just 36, Sir Mark Sykes was one of the signatories to the Sykes-Picot Agreement, one of the most controversial treaties of modern times. Signed in 1916 between the United Kingdom and France with the agreement of Russia and Italy, the secret treaty divided up the territories of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. One century later, Christopher Sykes’ lively biography of his grandfather sheds new light on his life and work and the political instability that the reviled agreement has contributed to ever since. Sykes’ book incorporates previously undisclosed family letters and cartoons by his grandfather to offer a comprehensive and humbling account of the man who signed one of the most significant policies in modern Middle Eastern history.

5. View from Riyadh

Arwa Al Neami. “Never Never Land.” 2013-2019. Photography. (Courtesy of Arwa Al Neami)

Born in Khamis Mushait, a city in the southern Asir region of Saudi Arabia, Arwa Al Neami is an artist known for thought-provoking works capturing the kingdom during a time of immense social change. “Never Never Land” is a series of photographic works created between 2013 and 2019, documenting the annual fun fair at a theme park in Mahrajan Abha as part of the city’s summer festival. The series captures women joyfully participating in various games that appear to be reserved exclusively for them. The series of works were reinterpreted and given new life in 2023 with the artist’s light installation, “Memo Light,” created for Noor Riyadh and presenting 13 derelict bumper cars from Al-Salam Park in Abha to Salam Park in Riyadh.

6. By the numbers

• Google Cloud and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund are investing $10 billion to jointly build and operate an AI hub in Saudi Arabia.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Humain announced last month a joint $5 billion investment to build an AI Zone in the kingdom to grow demand for advanced AI services.