Jeddah art festival to explore climate crisis in next edition

Led by the Saudi Art Council, the 21,39 Jeddah Arts will feature works by artists, architects and designers that propose solutions for environmental problems

People gather at the opening of 21,39 Jeddah Arts. Willy Lowry / The National

The climate crisis will be the focus of next year’s 21,39 Jeddah Arts festival, Saudi Arabia’s contemporary-arts event, which will take place on Tuesday, January 28.

Curated by Maya El Khalil, the seventh festival will be called I Love You, Urgently, and will seek to develop solutions and spur action on the environmental issues specifically faced by the kingdom.

Through a series of exhibitions, workshops and panel discussions, artists, architects, designers and thinkers will present solutions to tackle these problems and propose symbiotic ways of inhabiting the planet.

“The title is an unexpected address. As it departs from the scientific vernacular, it emphasises the highly personal dynamics we are living today,” El Khalil said.

It is also extremely relevant to Saudi Arabia, which is one of the world's largest oil producers. The country's national oil company Saudi Aramco began trading publicly this month, and temporarily achieved its goal of passing a $2 trillion (Dh7.35tn) valuation last week. All this is part of the government's efforts to stave off its reliance on fossil fuels and use the profits to invest in other industries. Organised by the Saudi Art Council, 21,39 Jeddah Arts was founded in 2013 and has served as a platform to promote local art and culture.

El Khalil has put forward the specific themes to be addressed throughout the programme, including the idea of biomimicry, an approach to design and production that borrows from natural models and systems.

The works will be shown at the gallery spaces of the Saudi Art Council. “We are excited to bring creative responses to environmental concerns to the table,” said Princess Jawaher bint Majed bin Abdul Aziz, chairwoman of the Saudi Art Council.

Abdul Aziz also acknowledged Jeddah's growing position as "a place of exchange for ideas". The city's visual art scene is quite robust, being home to various contemporary art galleries such as Athr Gallery and Hafez Gallery, as well as art space and architecture firm Bricklab. This year, the arts festival focused on the theme of 'crossing' in the context of the old generation giving way to the new.

Details on the artists and festival projects have yet to be announced.