The Visual Arts Commission officially inaugurated a landmark exhibition titled “Bedayat: Beginnings of the Saudi Art Movement” on 27 January. Hosted at Riyadh’s Saudi National Museum in the historic Al Murabba’a district, this cultural milestone remains on view through 11 April. The exhibition explores the formative decades of the 1960s through the 1980s, tracing how a pioneering generation defined the nation’s visual identity.
This exhibition represents the culmination of a massive, research-led initiative. To build this narrative, the Commission conducted over 80 site visits and recorded 50 in-depth interviews with cultural icons. The resulting archive includes 120 comprehensive artist reports that reconstruct a period once defined by sparse institutional support. Moreover,Under the curation of Qaswra Hafez, the show features more than 250 artworks, many appearing in public for the first time.
Three Pillars of Artistic Evolution
Organizers structured the exhibition into three distinct sections to guide visitors through the Kingdom’s creative metamorphosis. First, “The Foundation of the Modern Art Movement” examines how individual initiative and early art education in schools intersected with state support. This section highlights the grassroots networks that artists built to overcome the limited number of early exhibition venues.
The central and largest section, “Currents of Modernity,” explores four thematic pillars: Nature and Landscape, Social Life, Faces and Features, and Dreams and Symbols. These themes demonstrate how Saudi artists translated global modernist ideas into a local vernacular. Visitors witness a visual language that balances international trends with the rhythms of daily life and deep-rooted traditions.
The journey concludes by spotlighting four influential trailblazers who shaped the visual language of the Saudi state. These pioneers include the painter Mohammed Al-Saleem, the visual artist Safeya Binzagr, the mixed-media painter Mounirah Mosly, and the sculptor Abdulhalim Radwi. Their collective works on paper, canvas, and in bronze offer a rare glimpse into a transformative era of economic and social change.
Preserving a Lasting Cultural Legacy
While the physical exhibition serves as a starting point, the Commission intends to expand this knowledge through integrated digital outputs. A comprehensive publication will follow the show, alongside an original documentary film and a permanent digital archive. Consequently, these resources ensure that both scholars and the public can access the Kingdom’s artistic heritage for generations to come. Through this initiative, Saudi Arabia honors the creators who laid the bedrock for today’s thriving contemporary art ecosystem.
