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Hayy Arts

About Hayy Arts

The Art Jameel-run exhibitions space Hayy Arts anchors the creative complex, presenting robust, curated, museum-style shows – featuring Saudi and international artists and designers – that address themes of local and global relevance.

Hayy Arts’ exhibitions are accompanied by an extensive public programme that includes talks, performances, learning opportunities and a film programme, plus a range of workshops and activities for children, youth and lifelong-learners.

Current Exhibition

‘At the Edge of Land’ | A Group Exhibition

November 16, 2023 – April 13, 2023

‘At the Edge of Land’ is a group exhibition that delves into the intricate and often concealed relationships between landscapes and trade. It encompasses unexpectedly interconnected geographies, resources and commodities, going back and forth between land and sea to tell stories of erosion and extraction. It challenges ideas of emptiness and development, shedding light on the regions and people on the margins of trade routes.

‘At the Edge of Land’ brings together works from the Art Jameel collection, in addition to loans and new commissions by international artists, many of whom are showing their work in Saudi Arabia for the first time. The selection of artists and artworks traces the trade route on which Jeddah is located – the busy maritime path connecting East Asia and Europe via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

Past Exhibitions

‘Silent Hands’ | A Group Exhibition

May 29, 2023 – October 16, 2023

Jeddah’s home for the arts, Hayy Jameel, presents ‘Silent Hands’ a new group exhibition exploring questions of work and leisure in Asia and its diasporas.

With works by Pacita Abad, Hangama Amiri, Mohammed Kazem, Maha Malluh, Khairullah Rahim, Anhar Salem and Aarti Sunder, the exhibition engages with spaces of work, both physical and virtual, and their intersections with gender, financial independence, social mobility, and migration.

Curated by Art Jameel’s Rotana Shaker, alongside guest curators Zain Al Saie and Jean Wong, the exhibition is part of Hayy Jameel’s commitment to supporting curatorial development and a prelude to a new annual open call for curatorial projects to be announced soon.

‘Accommodations’ | A Touring Exhibition from the Saudi Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition

January 20, 2023 – October 16, 2023

Art Jameel, in partnership with The Saudi Architecture and Design Commission, brings ‘Accommodations’ to Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. Rooted in research, ‘Accommodations’ displays rare found images, archival material, urban plans, architectural models, renders, sketches and ephemera that trace the history of shelters, examining how the built environment and urban fabric adapt to accommodate shifting social conditions.

The exhibition touring from the Saudi Pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia is designed as an experiential show unfolding in three parts at Hayy Arts, featuring architects Hussam DakkakBasmah Kaki and Hessa AlBader of Studio Bound curated by Uzma Z. Rizvi and Murtaza Vali.

‘The Mountains Quiver in Anticipation’

November 23, 2022 – April 29, 2023

A group exhibition featuring new commissions, never-before seen works, and pieces from the Art Jameel Collection, that explore Saudi’s rapidly changing landscapes, from the social, cultural and personal to the urban and environmental through the eyes of emerging artists in Saudi.

‘The Distance from Here’

June 8 – October 25, 2022

This group exhibition displays works drawn largely from the Art Jameel Collection, on view for the first time in Saudi Arabia. Focussing on spaces of transition, both physical and non-physical, it explores the ‘in-between’ shifts and exchanges, capturing the interstices of time in a moment of transformation for life and the arts in the Kingdom.

‘Staple: What’s on your plate?’

December 6, 2021 – April 25, 2022

Developed by Art Jameel and Delfina Foundation, this group exhibition investigates what we eat and the entanglements of food with memory, ecology and place, and considers our relationship with food as a starting point to explore a larger landscape of climate emergency.

‘Illuminate: A Noor Riyadh Capsule’

December 6, 2021 – March 31, 2022

‘Illuminate: A Noor Riyadh Capsule’ is a series of large-scale, immersive light installations adapted from the inaugural 2021 Noor Riyadh festival organised by Riyadh Art. With works by 11 major Saudi artists, the exhibition sheds light on artists who have contributed significantly to furthering the technical and social practice of art-making in the Kingdom and wider region.