Jeddah is a city of sculptures as it has the largest open-air sculpture museum in the world.

Arabian Wings once again teamed up with Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI) and the Jeddah Municipality in launching Jeddah’s first sculpture symposium recently.

The 20-day live contemporary sculpture symposium provides a rare opportunity for local emerging artists to create and present their work.

“Our mission is to support artists and acknowledge their hard work. For this sculpture symposium we chose three sculpture artists, namely Talal Al-Tokhais from Saudi Arabia, Ahmad Keshta from Spain and Tamer Ragab from Egypt. All three artists in these 20 days will carve stone sculptures in front of the public,” explained Mohammed Bahrawi, founder of Arabian Wings.

Bahrawi explained that the artists have been tasked with constructing sculptures almost one meter high and only one of the sculptures will be given to the Jeddah Municipality as a gift to be displayed publicly.

“This symposium aims to help local sculptors gain greater recognition for their work. We aim to organize this event annually,” the founder said.

Bahrawi also indicated that they decided to host the symposium during Eid Al-Adha holidays to attract the largest number of visitors and to reach a wider audience in order to promote this art.

“Our three artists are specialized in their field. Al-Tokhais pursued his passion in sculpture since childhood and became a professional artist in 2009. His work is his identity. Ragab has a wide range of participation in local and international symposiums and Keshta also has an impressive showcase of his artwork in Germany, Italy and Spain, uniquely merging elements from the east and west,” he explained.

Arabian Wings supports Arab artists reach their potential and aims to deepen the bonds of cultural, artistic and aesthetic communication in the region.