The Legends of Motherland
21 April - 24 May, 2026
In her third solo exhibition in Jeddah, Sara Alabdali turns toward the city’s layered past, seeking to understand the shifting boundary between myth and history. Building on earlier explorations of material and intangible heritage as vessels of cultural memory, the artist here moves toward a more distilled approach—one that reimagines myth in abstract form while examining its relationship to the structure of Jeddah, particularly its feminine dimension.
The works evoke fragments of a tangible heritage now fading, while posing an open question: does what disappears return, like the phoenix rising from ash, or does it drift into the realm of myth, reshaped over time into something imagined?
Through this inquiry, the exhibition considers myth not as a fixed narrative of the past, but as a living structure, one that continues to transform across time, existence, and place.
FEATURED ARTISTS
Sara Al Abdali
Artist
Sarah Al Abdali is an artist and researcher based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Her work, which primarily explores identity and material culture through painting, delves into the complexities of belonging and historical narratives. She has worked as a consultant on traditional arts and crafts, advising prestigious international and governmental clients, including the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities and Turquoise Mountain Trust. In 2023, she made her curatorial debut with her solo exhibition The Growing Vines of Sodom at Hafez Gallery in Jeddah, and was also appointed assistant curator for the second Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah. In 2025, she published her first novel, Departure in the Depths of Madinah, further expanding her practice into literary storytelling.
Al Abdali made a groundbreaking debut with her graffiti work In 2012, which was the first of its kind to be showcased internationally. This marked the beginning of her ongoing exploration of various media. In 2023, she founded Tabaa’, a studio brand that collaborates with designers and brands to reimagine art in the context of consumable culture.
Her artistic practice focuses on bringing overlooked historical contexts into the spotlight, particularly those related to women, architecture, and social structures. Through her paintings, she seeks to tell the untold stories of these subjects, often marginalized in art and culture.
Al Abdali has exhibited at the British Museum in London and participated in numerous international and local exhibitions, including the First Islamic Art Biennale: Awwal Bayt (2023) in Jeddah, the 13th Cairo Biennale: Eyes East Bound (2019), Art Paris at the Grand Palais (2018), the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival (2017), the START Art Fair at Saatchi Gallery, London (2014), and #COMETOGETHER in London (2012) and more.
FEATURED ARTWORK
