JEDDAH — Art is continuing to play a huge part in the Jeddah culture scene with the launch of the fifth “Painting In Every House” gallery at Jeddah Atelier for Fine Arts. Exhibiting around 1,000 paintings, the 20-day gallery opened on Monday evening for women only and was inaugurated by businesswoman Nadia Al-Zuhair. The gallery also hosted an opening for men Wednesday night that was inaugurated by famous Saudi artist Taha Al-Sabban, who is also one of the participating artists. Hesham Qandil, Jeddah Atelier manager, said: “The gallery aims to foster good feelings and sentiment toward fine arts and make fine art paintings accessible to everyone. “It also aims to embed beauty in our houses and to move from a culture that views art as something to view on a sporadic basis to one that views art regularly, positively influencing our daily life.” The gallery is not only distinguished by its artists from Saudi Arabia and the Arab world, but the affordable prices of paintings that range from SR300 to SR2,000. Qandil stressed the need to continue holding the gallery annually, pointing to the social role that art can play to fill the gap between artists and the community. The gallery hosts a large number of artists including Taha Sabban, Abdullah Hamas, Hesham Benjabi, Fahd El-Heijaila, Abdullah Al-Shaher, Heba Abed, Reem Al-Dini, Fatima Al-Nemr, Marwa Maarouf, Amina Al-Naser, Abdullah Idris and many others. The participation of artists from the Arab world who use plastic art in their work is seen as a reflection of the diversity that is currently prevalent in the local art scene. The gallery also hosts work by talented young artists, who are seen as the future. Continuing to hold the gallery is a reflection of its past success and interest the public has in plastic art.
