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In the Studio: Manal AlDowayan

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Manal AlDowayan

02/01/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - In the Studio, Manal AlDowayan

How one of Saudi Arabia's most established artists navigates its changing society

Art journalist Melissa Gronlund gives an insight into the work of internationally renowned Saudi artist Manal AlDowayan.

Internationally renowned Saudi artist Manal al-Dowayan is midway through an ambitious public installation that will be shown in the Valley of Arts, in the desert of north-west Saudi Arabia. She has just returned from collecting stories and drawings from the inhabitants of AlUla, and is starting to transform them into her own artwork. Titled Oasis of Stories, the project pays tribute to the local people of AlUla. She will carve their drawings into her installation, just like their ancestors carved petroglyphs to tell their own stories thousands of years ago.

Manal gives Melissa Gronlund a sense of the importance of storytelling and being a memory keeper in a changing society. She also talks about her early work challenging the restrictions on women in Saudi Arabia, such as I Am, which questioned the way women were only allowed to perform certain roles in Saudi society. Melissa hears how one of the country's most established artists is navigating Saudi Arabia's new cultural scene. 

Producers: Ashley Byrne, Melissa Gronlund and Danielle Manning
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service

Image: Manal AlDowayan's participatory workshops in AlUla (2023), part of Oasis of Stories for Wadi AlFann (Courtesy of Royal Commission for AlUla)

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