Saudi Art Basel award winner exhibits at Jameel Arts Center

Welcome to Al-Monitor Riyadh.

This week we spotlight the Saudi artist Mohammad Alfaraj, recipient of the inaugural Art Basel Emerging Artist Award whose first show at Jameel Arts Center in Dubai opens on June 26. We also highlight a specially commissioned design installation in Spain inspired by Saudi agricultural heritage, and Saudi Arabia’s summer tourism campaign to attract millions of domestic and international travelers.

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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: "Seas are sweet, fish tears are salty"

Mohammed Alfaraj. A palm tree doesn’t die, but bows to life forever. 2018 (Photo: Courtesy of Mohammad Alfaraj)

The Saudi artist Mohammad Alfaraj launches his first institutional solo exhibition, Seas are sweet, fish tears are salty, opening June 26 at the Jameel Arts Center in Dubai. The artist, who hails from Al-Ahsa, an agricultural oasis and oil-rich region in the kingdom’s Eastern Province, explores landscape, memory and storytelling. The works on display include multimedia presentations, film, writing and found natural objects, such as palm fronds and dates.

The title of the exhibition stems from the artist’s poetic writing, exemplifying his lyrical and at times humorous approach to making art. Alfaraj draws inspiration from his upbringing in Al-Ahsa, shaped by the rich natural landscape and history in eastern Saudi Arabia.

Both spiritual and allegorical, his work often blurs the boundaries between traditional and contemporary art, and fiction and nonfiction. He breathes new life into natural and organic materials through a creative process that is ritualistic, cinematic and deeply rooted in the environment.

“Mohammad Alfaraj is part of a new generation of fast-rising artists from the region, deeply attuned to their landscapes, communities and traditions,” said Nora Razian, Art Jameel’s deputy director and head of Exhibitions and Programs, in the opening press release.

In the Nest, a newly commissioned storytelling space at the Jameel Arts Center, visitors are invited to gather, read from the artist’s writings and take part in a scheduled program of oral storytelling.

Dates: June 26 - January 4, 2026

Location: Jameel Arts Center

Find more information here

2. Word on the street: Seoul

Some of the dishes at Seoul. (Photo: Courtesy of Seoul)

For lovers of Korean cuisine, Seoul — the restaurant, not South Korea’s capital — offers a delicious blend of traditional dishes and modern fusion. Each table features a show-stopping Korean grill for an authentic gogi-gui (Korean barbecue) experience.

Be sure to try the Korean chicken wings, Bulgogi beef, butter chicken, prawn, and such vegetarian dishes as chili tofu, spicy green vegetables and peanut lime salad. The restaurant’s sleek minimalist, low-light setting, replete with dark tables and touches of lush greenery, makes Seoul a sought-after Asian dining destination in the Saudi capital.

Location: As Sulimaniyah, Riyadh

Find more information here.

3. Riyadh diary

A view of the installation by Raghad Al-Ahmed. (Photo: Courtesy of Ithra)

• Ithra brings Saudi rural life to Spain’s Concentrico

Ithra, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, in Dhahran, Eastern Province, is once again presenting a design installation at Spain’s Concentrico International Festival of Architecture and Design, marking its second consecutive year at the event, held in Logrono. 

This year, Ithra’s contribution takes the form of Rooted in Warmth, an immersive installation created by the Saudi multimedia artist Raghad Al-Ahmed and showing from June 19-24. The piece was made in collaboration with more than 50 female artisans in Al-Jawf, in northern Saudi Arabia, and inspired by the artist’s roots in the Hejazi community, particularly from the western city of Taif where inhabitants often gather under the shade of trees as a common pastime of rural life. 

Al-Ahmed’s installation reimagines this communal tradition through contemporary design, aiming to foster cross-cultural dialogue by presenting it beyond the kingdom. Following the festival, the work will be showcased at Ithra’s creativity conference, Tanween.

Dates: November 2025 

Location: Ithra, Dhahran

Find more information here

• Mohammed Alfaraj & Jameel Arts Center receive inaugural Art Basel prizes

Art Basel concluded its latest edition in Switzerland last week, with the Saudi artist Mohammed Alfaraj winning the Emerging Artist Award 2025. Taking part in the fair’s Parcours section, a temporary display of public art, Alfaraj presented The Date Fruit of Knowledge (2022), a short film that fuses traditional storytelling with contemporary narrative to bring a powerful ecological tale to life.

The Jameel Arts Center in Dubai also received a medal at the inaugural Art Basel Awards, which recognize institutions fostering the future of contemporary art. The Jameel Arts Center was one of the three organizations worldwide to be recognized in the Institutions category, honored for its innovative exhibitions and contributions to contemporary art. 

Find more information here

• Asir Season

For those seeking a break from the heat, Asir, often called the “green soul” of Saudi Arabia, offers cooler temperatures, lush landscapes, and rich heritage sites to explore. For Asir Season, part of the Saudi Summer Tourism Campaign, local traditions are celebrated with outdoor performances, workshops, special art markets and activities for families. Asir is a wonderful region to visit for a slow experience, leaving the city behind for lush, verdant nature and rich cultural heritage.

Dates: Until August 15

Location: Throughout Asir governorate

Find more information here

4. Book of the week: “Between Two Rivers”

“Between Two Rivers” transports readers thousands of years back to ancient Mesopotamia, where author Moudhy Al-Rashid explores some of humanity’s earliest attempts to record and understand history. The urban settlements of Mesopotamia are considered to be the world’s first cities. It was also in this ancient region that the first writing system was devised and medicine, astronomy and agriculture were first developed. What Al-Rashid underlines in her book, with an expected publication date of August 12, is how beyond the technological inventions of the Mesopotamians, they were the people who began the vital tradition of recording human history.

Saudi photographer Ibrahim Sarhan has made a name for himself capturing images of the kingdom’s hidden spaces and Bedouin heritage. His latest book, Shdad, is dedicated to the Bedouin heritage of the Tabuk region, in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

6. By the numbers

• The Saudi Summer 2025 tourism campaign aims to attract more than 42 million domestic and international tourists with their projected spending exceeding $19.5 billion.
• According to Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al Khateeb, Saudi Arabia wants tourism to contribute to 10% of the country’s economy by 2030.
• Tourism spending in Gulf Cooperation Council states is projected to hit $223.7 billion by 2034, according to GCC-Stat, the Statistical Center for the Cooperation Council for the Arab Countries of the Gulf.