Exclusive: Saudi Arabia's Venice Biennale 2026: A Cultural Journey
The artist Dana Awartani will represent Saudi Arabia at the 2026 Venice Biennale, with Antonia Carver as the curator and Hafsa Alkhudairi as the assistant curator. Awartani, a leading figure in the current generation of Saudi artists, often collaborates with artisans to explore cultural heritage and craft traditions, some of which she has trained in herself.
Despite her formal training at Central St Martins in London, Awartani resisted expectations about the kind of work she would create as an Arab woman artist. She then delved into Islamic geometry at the Prince's School of Traditional Arts and obtained an ijaza, a formal Islamic certification, in Turkey, mastering the art of illumination. Her work continues to reflect this dual focus, blending cultural heritage with contemporary ideas.
When discussing heritage sites, Awartani emphasizes that it's more than just brick and mortar. It's about the memories and sense of belonging these places hold, especially in the Middle East. She highlights the continued presence of heritage in everyday life, such as people living in Al Balad, Jeddah's Old Town, or the enduring cultural significance of ancient sites in Syria and Palestine.
Awartani's work has been deeply influenced by the recent conflicts in the Middle East. In her show at the Arnolfini in Bristol earlier this year, she recreated the tiled floor of the Hamam al-Sammara, a 14th-century bathhouse in Gaza, which was reportedly destroyed by Israeli strikes in 2023. This piece, titled 'Standing by the Ruins (2025)', was the second of its kind. At the Diriyah Biennale in Riyadh in 2021, she reimagined the tiled pattern of the Grand Mosque of Aleppo, which suffered extensive damage during the Syrian Civil War.
For these projects, Awartani collaborated with traditional mud-brick makers in Saudi Arabia, intentionally creating cracks in the patterns to emphasize the vulnerability of these sites. Antonia Carver, a well-known figure in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, praises Awartani's practice for its ability to move between the micro and macro, exposing the textures, meanings, and fragilities of organic materials before expanding to the broader context of shared cultural heritage.
Carver, the director of Art Jameel, a philanthropic foundation, and Hafsa Alkhudairi, who works on contemporary art commissions in AlUla, a cultural and tourist destination in Saudi Arabia's northwest, will curate the Saudi pavilion. The Visual Arts Commission, part of Saudi's Ministry of Contemporary Art, is organizing the pavilion, which will be the fourth art pavilion by Saudi in its new permanent space in the Arsenale.
