by Stephen Stapleton, Director & Founder
First and foremost, I would like to thank the residents of the Al-Miftaha Arts Village in Abha, in particular Ahmed Mater Al-Ziad Aseeri and Abdulnasser
Gharem for inviting me into their world and sharing their vision over the past six years. The friendships I have made with the artists of that village and the
excitement, honesty, and kindhearted spirit of that first encounter are the foundation of this project.
None have contributed more to the story of ‘Edge of Arabia’ than Ahmed Mater. His participation in the British Museum’s landmark ‘Word into Art – Artists
of the Modern Middle East’ led to a series of collaborations with the British Museum and a personal endorsement from the King of Saudi Arabia HRH King
Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud.
‘Edge of Arabia’ would not have happened without the support and considerable talents of my curatorial collaborators, Lulwah Al-Homoud, Abdulnasser Gharem and in bringing the project to Berlin, Rami Farook. More recently, the support, friendship and guidance of Edge of Arabia creative director, Abdullah Al-Turki, and assistant curator Aya Mousawi, has been invaluable. Abdullah and I would especially like to thank Manal al Dowayan, Leen Al-Saud, Miriam Lloyd-Evans and Tahira Fitzwilliam-Hall for their dedication and faith, and the youthful energy and optimism they brought to the project. Also Maha Malluh, Faisal Samra, Bashar Al-Shroogi, Rudy Weng, Ali Khadra, Sarah Al-Faour, Alia Al-Senussi, John Martin, Ben Rawlingson-Plant, Ali Al-Ruzaiza, Ayman Alwan and Ajlan & Wael Gharem for their wonderful spirit and moral support.
Venetia Porter has been a wonderful advisor and friend to this project. Her guidance and wisdom have been invaluable in steering us in the right direction. For his written contribution to this book and his friendship and good judgement over a number of years, I would also like to thank Henry Hemming, one of the original Offscreen artists and in many ways, the pathfinder for Offscreen’s work.
Among my colleagues in London, Raheel Mohammed and Jamie Buchanan- Dunlop have been consistently good humoured and supportive of my vision, as have Robert Bennett, Sarah Hobbs, Kate Busby, Edward Williams and Saadi Soudavar. And for their support of Offscreen’s work from the outset, I want to thank Tom, Lance and Galahad Clark of the JAC Trust and Maysaloun Faraj from the Aya Gallery.
The beautiful design and production of this book is the work of the tireless and immensely talented Rob Heavey and Róisín McAvinney at ONE DARNLEY ROAD, as well as Aziz Al-Naib, whose wonderful calligraphy is featured throughout the project. Chris Morrissey deserves a special mention for his highly innovative web and multi-media design; as do John D. Wells, Colin Breame and Oyvind Hoel.
So many people have supported me during my numerous visits to Saudi Arabia that it would be impossible to list them all. Nevertheless, let me thank HRH Prince Khalid Al-Faisal and his son HRH Prince Bandar bin Khalid Al- Faisal for supporting my first visits to Aseer; HRH Prince Faisal Bin Salman, Robin Start and all at Jadwa Investment for their faith in bringing the project to Venice; Hamza Serafi and Mohammed Hafez for their kindness, patience and the story of the Lotus and the Elephant; Abdulaziz Ashour, Hala Joud and Ayman Yossri in Jeddah; Mohammed Farea in Riyadh; Ashraf Fayadh, and all at Ibn Aseer in Abha.
I would like to thank all our patrons, sponsors and partners, in particular Dr Abdulaziz Al-Sebail from the Ministry of Culture & Information, His Excellency Amr Al-Dabbagh and Sarah Al-Faour at the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority and Fady Jameel and his team at the Abdul Latif Jameel Co. Ltd who have believed in this project from the outset. For their generous support the artists and I would also like to thank HRH Prince Mohamad Al-Faisal Al-Saud, HRH Princess Fadwa bint Khaled, the Ambassador, HRH Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al-Saud, Rami Al-Turki, Progress Art, Hewar Gallery, Sultan Gallery, Amr Zedan, Zahid Al Zahid and all our wonderful patrons.
Both the exhibition and the imagery in this catalogue owe a great deal to loans and support from the Al Mansouria Foundation and I am indebted to HRH Princess Jawaher bint Majed bin Abdulaziz, as well as Rima Takieddine and Mickey Meresie. The exhibition has been enhanced by loans from a number of galleries and I would like to thank Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, Nadour, Galerie Enrico Navarra, Galerie Artes, Galarie Agathe Gaillard and all at Athr Gallery.
For their contributions and encouragement in London I would also like to thank Peter Sanders, Mohammad Mirbashiri, John Hollingworth and Joy Onyejiako. For believing in the dream to take Edge of Arabia to the 53rd Venice Biennalle, I would like to thank, Roger De Montebello and his family for the wonderful Palazzo; Sebastiano, Massimo, Fabrizio, Ricardo, Michele and his wonderful team; Matteo, Mara and Chiara at Lightbox for spreading the word; and Jenna, Zoe, Sara and my mother for big smiles and hard work. For support in bringing the exhibition to Berlin, I would like to thank Karin Adrian Van Roques, Christian Awe, David Ulrichs and all at the Vinyl Factory Gallery.
Most importantly I would like to thank the participating artists for their belief and vision. Their individual voices will always be the inspiration behind ‘Edge of Arabia’. On a personal note I would like to thank my mother, father, sister and my close friends for always encouraging me to take the path less travelled.
Finally I would like to dedicate this book to my secondary school art teacher, Paul Kilsby, for asking his students to search, with creativity and boundless imagination, for the beauty in the world.
