“We are excited to bring NABATT to Lebanon. It is a richly rewarding experience to bring contemporary Saudi art to Beirut. We hope this will give some insight into the immense creativity in Saudi Arabia,” said Reem Al-Faisal co-curator of NABATT in Lebanon.
NABATT will feature works by 15 contemporary Saudi artists, including Mohammad Al Ajlan, Fahad Al-Ghethami, Mahdi Al-Jeraibi, Nasser Al-Turki, Zaman Jassim and Dia Aziz Dia.
“The art scene in Saudi Arabia is right now producing some incredible work, and it is a testimony to the artists and their creativity that we are able to show new art work in Lebanon,” said Lulwah Al-Homoud, co-curator of NABATT.
NABATT features works involving visual arts, music and literature — each of them being a catalyst, speeding up the creative movement among Saudi artists. The diversity of media triggers a mesmerizing crossover, which illustrates the vivid cultural engagement within the Saudi art scene. The artists focus their work on the issue of globalization — a word that describes the continuous reciprocal reshaping what the local and the global wield on each other, and which has become a central issue of art and culture in the 21st century.
NABATT: “A Sense of Being” explores our lives and our surroundings. Its main reference point lies in the authentic cultural code that originates from an ancient period of time of the Arabian Peninsula. Its aim is to show art that discusses the very characteristics of human life, the relationships between diverse cultures and a common belonging to the world, either as single individuals, a social group or a community. The re-discussion of the meaning of contemporary life happens thanks to the de-codification of the global topic of urban living through regional cultural codes.
I am particularly happy to see that the curators of NABATT have included the great Saudi painter and sculptor Dia Aziz Dia. In 1979, he won the national competition to design the new gateway to Makkah — the biggest and most prestigious commission of his life. Although he is known for his formal portraits, Dia has never curbed his creativity. He believes freedom to create and express him as an artist involves the responsibility of recognizing the boundaries of the subject. He also believes a painting depicts a moment in time. That moment represents the subtle relationship between the artist and the subject at the time the painting was done. Unlimited creativity involves the use of high technology, which he is experimenting with.
According to Dia, you cannot mix media: “It usually doesn’t work. People have tried to paint the expressiveness of music, which like writing, has an element of time in it. It generates ideas that are powerful and change with time. I don’t want to mix media. I want to keep them separate and pure,” he said.
The organizers of the fair have also chosen July 14 as Education Day, which aims to educate people about contemporary Saudi Art.  Education Day will feature a roundtable discussion on the following topic: “Middle Eastern Art, the local and global challenges. Where is Saudi Art going?” with Mona Khazindar, director of the Institut du Monde Arabe and Sirine Fatouh from the Department of Research at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Besides NABATT, MENASART FAIR will also host “The Video Box,” which will act as an introduction to the world of the motion pictures through a selection of more than 13 films made by renowned artists from Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, China, Lebanon, India and Palestine. These thought-provoking videos are an opportunity to discover original plastic creations. The videos address social and political issues in different ways. Some videos are humorous while others are either cynical or merely realistic.
Five Saudi artists — Hamza Serafi, Abdulnasser Gharam, Faisal Samra, Fahad Al-Gethami and Sami Al-Turki — will be presenting videos. Hamza Serafi brings a welcome touch of humor with “People Want,” a 1 min 35 second video courtesy of Traffic Gallery.
Hamza Serafi was inspired by the uprising in Egypt: “They were shouting in the square: ‘The people want to change the system.’ The people of the old regime told the demonstrators that they were ‘eating Kentucky,’ which was a big insult for them. They were demonstrating for their rights, and they were being accused of being fed American chickens. I went to Kentucky and they have this product called ’Popcorn Chicken.’ and that is what inspired me to create this video,” said Serafi.
This funny film focuses on a frying pan on a stove with oil and a layer of un-popped corn heating up. All of a sudden, one piece pops. A few seconds later, another piece pops. You are now in a state of suspense waiting for the next one to fly. Finally, it does, but this one leaps right out of the pan, and you cannot help but laugh.
MENASART Fair is becoming an essential meeting point where collectors, artists and art connoisseurs will discover more than 2,000 contemporary artworks in a variety of mediums, including paintings, sculptures, photography, videos art and art installations, represented by some 200 artists from 28 countries.
“It is time to demonstrate the exceptional quality and standards of the regions art scene, and we are confident that the galleries taking part in this year’s fair — which will include Egypt, Syria and Tunisia for the first time — are going to exhibit one of the most artistic collections in the area. Art has the power to create a multilingual dialogue for tolerance, openness and understanding, and we hope that MENASART Fair, together with other such cultural events in the region, will help create a movement that encourages people to experience art,” concluded Art Fair manager Laure d’Hauteville.