“We have traditional conceptions of Islam and its history, which I feel we should begin to re-examine from a new perspective,” said visitor Abdelelah Qutub, a 31-year-old architect from Mecca.
A few metres (yards) away, Franco-Lebanese artist Tamara Kalo had recreated the camera obscura, the precursor to the modern camera invented in the 11th century by Muslim philosopher Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen).
Kalo told AFP her installation, made out of copper, sought to raise the question of “what it means to see and what it means to be a witness”.
The exhibition has also encouraged artists to be bold with scale, as can be seen from a massive disc covered in petrol — a nod to Saudi Arabia’s position as the world’s leading crude exporter — that spins endlessly.
Its creator, Italian artist Arcangelo Sassolino, said: “For me it represents time… it’s something that keeps evolving while we’re watching the piece.”
Under his “Vision 2030”, de facto Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought to transform the kingdom’s image, weighed down by decades of repression and ultraconservatism.
According to James Dorsey of the National University of Singapore, Saudi authorities are seeking to address what he described as a “reputation deficit”, having long been considered a “secretive, ultraconservative kingdom”.
Efforts to project “openness”, including the biennale, are “key to the success of Vision 2030”, he said.
‘Share space with the West’
