The New Spirit of the Arabian Peninsula

Ahmed Mater embodies a new spirit of the Arabian Peninsula’s art and culture. His works have defied the codes and conventions expected of an artist in the region.

Mater’s body of work carries with it a depth of understanding and respect for his country’s traditions. It reveals the influence of the Saudi modernist pioneers that have paved a path under challenging artistic conditions. These pioneers include Abdulhalim Radwi (1939–2006) and Mohammed Al Saleem (1939–1997). Radwi referred to Islam, the Qur’an and Mecca in his work and was a mentoring figure for Mater. While Mohammed Al Saleem wove between Saudi’s landscapes and Arabic calligraphy to create a new visual language. Both these artists led the way in the modernist art movement in the Kingdom during the early stages and left a lasting effect on the next generation of artists.

Mater is closely connected to the Peninsula’s environments. On the one hand, he grew up between the arid desert and the lush greenery of Asir’s mountains. On the other hand, he lives and works in the ever-changing urban city of Riyadh. He is at once a nomad and a cosmopolitan city dweller, and his work reflects the duality of his identity and knowledge of both landscapes. 

Ahmed Mater was at the core of the young generation of artists that were creating new and bold initiatives in the early 2000s. It was in Mater’s own birthplace, the city of Abha, that the collective of five contemporary artists titled Shatta was formed. They issued a manifesto and placed a large sign with the word ‘SHATTA’ on the edge of a mountain, mimicking the sign of Hollywood. They exhibited their works in groundbreaking exhibitions both in Abha in 2002 and then Jeddah in 2004. These same exhibitions were the breeding ground that led to the birth of Mater’s second initiative: Edge of Arabia. 

Here, following a chance encounter between the Saudi artists Ahmed Mater and Abdulnasser Gharem with the British artist and entrepreneur Stephen Stapleton, the Edge of Arabia initiative was formed with the goal of pushing the edge of the desert as a cultural and artistic hub again. It was around two decades ago when I first came across Ahmed Mater and his work, at a groundbreaking exhibition for Arab art, titled Word into Art, which opened at the British Museum. At that time, I was the museum’s senior advisor and was struck by Mater’s X-ray works that were introduced to me by the museum and the exhibition curator Venetia Porter. The series carried many dimensions that continue to evolve with Mater’s career. It includes a reference to his medical background, as well as his interest in the art of illumination and Islam. In that series, Mater broke the taboo of using Islamic art as an inspiration to create contemporary works.

In a later exhibition, Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam at the British Museum, Mater produced his iconic installation titled Magnetism that mesmerised the audiences. This work, which he produced early in his artistic career, was incredibly impactful as it became the subject of his subsequent photographic series that he has been working on for over a decade. Mater used a magnet to depict the Kaaba of Mecca - the heart and soul of Islam - with iron filings surrounding it. These iron filings represented the spiritual attraction that the Kaaba has on Muslims, as well as serving a visual reference to the ritual of tawaf that is performed during the pilgrimage.

Ahmed Mater is an artist who is proud of his heritage and feels deeply connected to his surroundings. In his work, one can sense the Peninsula’s new-found energy – a harmonic union of contemporary ideas and observations and ancient wisdom - whose hymns you hear in the desert winds.