A book corner at Misk Art Institute.

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

Misk Art Institute, a leading non-profit cultural institution dedicated to empowering the growth of a thriving creative community, has announced the launch of a legacy initiative, The Art Library: Discovering Arab Artists, in collaboration with Rizzoli Libri.

The Art Library is a seminal art publication series dedicated to highlighting some of the most prominent and influential modern and contemporary Arab artists, with a special focus on Saudi artists. The initiative aims at creating an accessible and compelling resource that offers readers a comprehensive panorama of the trends that shaped the history of modern and contemporary Arab art. The books, published in Arabic and English, focus on documenting and displaying pivotal works throughout their history, philosophy, and experiences.

The series is edited by Mona Khazindar, Deputy for Cultural Assets and Centers at the Saudi Ministry of Culture, and former Director General of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. The first two volumes of the series will be available for sale from the end of this month. “The Art Library is a part of Misk Art Institute’s mission to contextualise the rich artistic diversity found not only in the Kingdom, but the wider Arab world.

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“This is a historic and ambitious endeavour that the Institute has taken on to archive and document the careers of Arab artists that are considered some of the most influential in their field,” wrote Prince Badr bin Farhan Al Saud, Chairman of Misk Art Institute and Minister of Culture, in the foreword to Abdulrahman Alsoliman’s book.

The first series highlights the oeuvre of Saudi painter Abdulrahman Alsoliman (b.1954), a pioneer of the Kingdom’s art scene, who served as the first president of the Saudi Society for Fine Arts (2007- 2012) and Egyptian artist Adam Henein (1929-2020), who founded the International Sculpture Symposium in Aswan, presented alongside written contributions from local and international art critics, curators and writers and select works.

Alsoliman’s book displays his painterly response, capturing his fundamentally abstract style and the signs and symbols in his work. Henein’s book reveals an intimate aspect of his creations through a previously unpublished selection of charcoal drawings he produced over the last two decades. “The Art Library was born out of an idea to document the work of Saudi and Arab artists, and to enrich local creative content, which forms the core of Misk Art Institute’s objectives.

 Abdulrahman Alsoliman’s painting.

“We recognise that there is a dearth of publications on regional artists, and part of our focus is to cultivate a culture of awareness, encourage more documentation in art and culture and pay tribute to artists,” said Reem Al Sultan, CEO of Misk Art Institute. The launch of The Art Library is complemented by two exhibitions that celebrate Alsoliman and Henein at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Arts Hall in Riyadh.

In honour of the pioneering artists, the exhibition invites readers to experience the artworks for the first time in this context. Works from the Adam Henein Foundation have been sourced for Henein’s exhibition, while Alsoliman has loaned paintings from his personal collection. Additional programming includes panel discussions and workshops for adults and children. The Art Library will publish four books per annum, a set of two volumes each season over spring and fall.

The curated set comprising a Saudi and an Arab artist is intended to create a curatorial dialogue between the surveyed artists. Each book will focus on select works or specific series in an artist’s career, with contributing essays by leading curators, writers and specialists. Misk Art Institute says it is committed to serving content and context to the Arab art sector “through an eternal literary celebration of Arab art history for future generations” in partnership with Rizzoli Libri and Khazindar as editor.

“The Art Library is an Arab production that will allow us to record our own history, and in publishing this series, we hope to inspire and educate audiences about Arab art around the world,” said Khazindar. “Books are important because, ultimately, they are what remains. An artist’s work is a form of documentation of our times, which is in turn a historical record.”

Alsoliman’s book, which focuses on his use of signs and symbols, features contributions by Roxane Zand (Founder, ZandFineArts), Farouk Yousif (art critic and poet) and Zain Al Saie (curatorial assistant and education coordinator at Al Riwaq Art Space, Bahrain).

Henein’s book focuses on his charcoal drawings, which are examined for the first time through contributions by Sacha Craddock (art critic, writer and curator, executive committee member of the International Association of Art Critics), Salah Bisar (art critic and award-winning author) and Nayra Zaghloul (art advisor and researcher).

The Art Library’s next series presents books on award-winning Lulwah Al Homoud (born 1967), whose practice shifts between the spiritual and the mathematical; and Iraqi painter, printmaker, lecturer and graphic designer, Rafa Nasiri (1940–2013), whose abstract works were inspired by nature and were often infused with Arabic calligraphy.

At an accessible size of 16.5 x 24 cm, The Art Library features soft cover books with full colour and archival images and will be distributed globally at major international bookstores and preeminent museums, and also will be available for online purchase.

Founded in 2017 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Misk Art Institute is a non-profit organisation dedicated to empowering and catalysing the growth of a creative community in Saudi Arabia and regionally. Nurturing an appreciation for art and culture, the Institute is dedicated to making the arts accessible by empowering emerging artists through an interconnected ecosystem of support, expertise, and education — unlocking opportunities and elevating the country’s artistic infrastructure. The Misk Art Grant is the largest artist support scheme of its kind in the region. The annual Misk Art Week convenes thought leaders in the creative industries to deliberate the Kingdom’s art arena and its ambitions.