Artist Talks: Manal AlDowayan

We can trace Moore’s interest in the relationship between human, natural forms and the environment in the work of a number of contemporary artists working today.

Join us for a series of three talks by leading contemporary artists, who will each reflect on our 2024 theme Inspiration, Sculpture and Our Natural World.

In this first talk Manal AlDowayan, whose work Shifting Sands: A Battle Song is currently representing Saudi Arabia at the Venice Biennale 2024, shares how Moore’s work has informed her own artistic practice and creative spirit.

In the mid-1970s, four monumental sculptures by Henry Moore were installed along the Jeddah Corniche in Saudi Arabia, marking historically the arrival of international contemporary art in the Saudi landscape. However, these artworks seemed almost small against the openness of the Saudi environment, struggling to maintain their presence in such an expansive setting. Drawing from a wealth of documents and artifacts housed at the Henry Moore Foundation, as well as stories from those involved in the acquisition of these pieces, AlDowayan has reconstructed the narrative of these early encounters with public art in Saudi Arabia. She explores how these initial efforts shaped the country’s conception of public art and relates them to her own experiences working on large-scale public art commissions in the region today.

The talk will focus on how Manal AlDowayan is entering a new phase in her exploration of public spaces, addressing themes closely connected to the first initiatives in Jeddah: scale, public participation, and placement. Through large-scale public art projects such as Now You See Me, Now You Don’t and Oasis of Stories, she emphasizes sustainability, materiality, and community, gathering stories from the land to foster an inclusive and meaningful dialogue within public spaces.