RIYADH // In highly conservative Saudi Arabia where most forms of entertainment are forbidden, art has taken to the streets.
Dozens of paintings are being displayed on outdoor advertising billboards in the capital Riyadh and other cities in what organisers say is the kingdom’s first public art show.
“It is something new,” said Mohammed Al Khereiji, deputy chief executive of Al Arabia Outdoor, the advertising firm behind the exhibition.
The exhibition opened Monday night along Riyadh’s glitzy Tahlia Street and runs until Saturday.
Sculptures have previously been displayed outdoors in Saudi Arabia, including a permanent display along the corniche in Jeddah. The country also has some small galleries.
But with about 3,400 billboards showing 80 paintings by Saudi artists, Mr Al Khereiji called this latest show “the biggest art gallery in the Middle East”.
Saudi Arabia, which practises a conservative Salafist version of Islam, bans alcohol even in luxury hotels, does not allow cinemas or theatres, and strictly separates the sexes.
“The culture and the society do not encourage artists and it is difficult to be an artist in this society,” said Majed Saud Al Mefareh, 38, standing in front of a billboard featuring his painting, Story.
It is a patchwork of abstract figures and images depicting Saudi life and traditions.
Mr Mefareh, who also has a day job in administration, said he has been a part-time painter for about two decades because he enjoys his hobby and knows that “some people in our society like it” too.
The exhibition should help more Saudis to appreciate the visual arts, he said.
The paintings in the exhibition were chosen after a call for submissions drew 3,200 entries.
Most of the colourful works are in an abstract style, some reminiscent of early-20th century cubism made famous by Picasso.
The country’s strict Wahhabi version of Islam forbids paintings of the human form but several works in the exhibition clearly depict people, many of them women.
One painting shows a green female figure, hands on hips and head held high, emerging from a cactus in a desert landscape.
Ahlam Nassir Al Harbi, 23, said women are a minority among the country’s artists, making up perhaps 10 or 20 per cent of painters.
An art student at Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University for women, Ms Al Harbi’s work shows two female forms alongside traditional Bedouin designs.
“It feels lovely” to have one of her paintings exhibited, she said.
* Agence France-Presse
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
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The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
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RESULT
Esperance de Tunis 1 Guadalajara 1
(Esperance won 6-5 on penalties)
Esperance: Belaili 38’
Guadalajara: Sandoval 5’
Match info:
Portugal 1
Ronaldo (4')
Morocco 0
The Penguin
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Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
