6 Female Arab Artists Participating In Riyadh Arts’ Tuwaiq Sculpture 2023

Taking place from 8th January to 10th February 2023 at Durrat Al Riyadh, Tuwaiq Sculpture is an annual sculpture symposium that brings local and international artists together to create public artworks in a live setting. Through an interactive program of workshops, school visits, and talks, Tuwaiq Sculpture engages diverse communities and bolsters cultural exchanges. The event concludes in an on-site exhibition, with the sculptures enriching the Riyadh Art collection and later becoming a permanent feature of the Saudi capital’s urban fabric.

The event also serves as a platform where local and international artists meet, collaborate, and create large-scale public artworks in a live setting. The symposium allows the public to observe the creative process, participate in interactive workshops, and discuss the history and future of public art, which also works as a contributing factor in the enrichment of the cultural and arts scene in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Here are the 6 participating Arab female sculptors…

By Amrita Singh

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Azhar Saaed – Saudi Arabia

Azhar Saaed is a Saudi ceramicist and sculptor who has participated in international symposiums across Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Egypt, Italy, Canada, US, Morocco, Bahrain, and Lebanon, among other countries.

She has also presented exhibitions in Saihat, Saudi Arabia (1997), Germany (2008), and Dammam, Jordan (2017).

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Ikram Kabbaj – Morocco

Ikram Kabbaj has been actively involved in discussions about art, urban planning, and city development across Morocco since the late 1980’s. Since 1989, she has been exploring materials and shapes which she shows in Morocco and overseas, as well as through her participation in several sculpture symposiums and biennales.

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Noha Alsharif – Saudi Arabia

Noha Alsharif is a Riyadh based Saudi sculptor and faculty member at Qassim University. The artist creates work that is rooted in the spiritual, paying close respect to the sensibilities of religion and turning representation into abstract figures. She has exhibited in London, Shanghai, Vienna, Istanbul, Sharjah, Doha, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

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Rajaa Alshafae – Saudi Arabia

Rajaa Alshafae has tried her hand in the field of sculpture, shaping, wood engraving, silkscreen printing, and Arabic calligraphy courses. Having participated in many group exhibitions in Saudi Arabia since 1998, in addition to exhibitions in Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Jordan, the UAE and the U.S., she held her first solo exhibition, ‘Maqamat’ at Abdullah Al-Sheikh Hall, Dammam, Saudi Arabia in 2018.

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Nilhan Sesalan - Turkey

Turkish artist, Nilhan Selesan defines herself through her works at a point “where the material meets the non-material”. Her works preserve deep historical elements drawn from her culture and background, as well connotations and issues from the present age, with an outlook towards the future. Her works can be found are in numerous collections, parks, and museums around the world.

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Wafa Alqunibit – Saudi Arabia

Artist Wafa Al Qunibit works in large scale format using natural materials extracted from the ground like minerals and rocks to create a relationship between the creator and the world around us. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Saudi Arabia and internationally. Selected exhibitions include Davos Economic Forum, World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland (2018); World Art Dubai, Dubai, UAE (2017); SOOQ OKAZ, Taif, Saudi Arabia (2017); the National Day exhibition at the Saudi Embassy in London, UK (2017) and Power of the Name, Granite Room, Atlanta, USA (2016).