Shadia Alem - Visual Artist Saudi Arabia, Riyadh (2026)

26/02/2026

"Yā" - “Transformation Jinniyat Lar 1996-2026” collection.
Acrylic collage and mix medium.
Limited edition: 5 + 1AP / info ℹ️ [email protected]
Shown in Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026, Riyadh

"Yā“
“I am not singular.
I gather through multiplicity.

Every limb remembers a different origin.
What you see as excess
is how I survive division.

Do not attempt to follow me.
I rearrange myself
even as you watch.

What was head becomes echo;
what was center disperses into swarm.

Transformation is not passage—
it is congestion,
futures crowding a single skin.

If you seek my truest form,
listen where bodies overlap.”

📖 The accompanying texts do not describe the images. They operate in parallel, attending to transformation as a material and sensory state. Image and text remain autonomous, meeting through proximity rather than illustration.
This text results of AI experiments, close collaboration between artist and by ChatGPT, inspired by Raja Alem’s style.

Editing & post: Bruno Houdayer - Auteur photographe plasticien

Diriyah Biennale Foundation Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale

مجموعة «تحوّلات جنّيات لار 1996–2026» كولاج أكريليك ووسائط مختلفة
إصدار محدود: 5 + 1 نسخة فنان (AP)
النصوص المرافقة لا تصف الصور. إنها تعمل بالتوازي معها، متناولةً التحوّل بوصفه حالة مادية وحسّية. تظل الصورة والنص مستقلَّين، يلتقيان عبر التقارب لا عبر الشرح أو الإيضاح.

كُتب هذا النص نتيجة الحوار بين الفنانة و تشات جي بي تي ChatGPT، مستلهَمًا من أسلوب رجاء عالم.

18/02/2026

"Bā" - “Transformation Jinniyat Lar 1996-2026” collection.
Acrylic collage and mix medium.
Limited edition 5 + 1AP
info ℹ️ [email protected]
Shown in Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026, Riyadh
Artistic Directors : Nora Razian / Sabih Ahmed
👇🏽
"Bā“
“I did not change in form;
it is you who changed the way you look.
Read me as a bend, not a body.
My colors are durations,
my openings invitations or refusals.
I do not advance
I coil.
What you call transformation
is simply how I remain unfinished.
Hold me, and I harden.
Waver, and I open.
In reading me,
your own edges loosen.”

📖 The accompanying texts do not describe the images. They operate in parallel, attending to transformation as a material and sensory state. Image and text remain autonomous, meeting through proximity rather than illustration.
This text results of AI experiments, close collaboration between artist and by ChatGPT, inspired by Raja Alem’s style.

Editing & post: Bruno Houdayer - Auteur photographe plasticien

Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale Diriyah Biennale Foundation

مجموعة «تحوّلات جنّيات لار 1996–2026» كولاج أكريليك ووسائط مختلفة
إصدار محدود: 5 + 1 نسخة فنان (AP)
النصوص المرافقة لا تصف الصور. إنها تعمل بالتوازي معها، متناولةً التحوّل بوصفه حالة مادية وحسّية. تظل الصورة والنص مستقلَّين، يلتقيان عبر التقارب لا عبر الشرح أو الإيضاح.

كُتب هذا النص نتيجة الحوار بين الفنانة و تشات جي بي تي ChatGPT، مستلهَمًا من أسلوب رجاء عالم.

15/02/2026

"Jeem" - “Transformation Jinniyat Lar 1996-2026” collection.
Acrylic collage and mix medium.
Limited edition 5 + 1AP
info ℹ️ [email protected]
Shown in Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026, Riyadh
👇🏽
"Jeem"

I pause without stopping.
What appears suspended
is only listening
for the next alteration of rhythm.
Transformation is not arrival.
It is learning
when not to advance.
I remain intact
by refusing urgency.

📖 The accompanying texts do not describe the images. They operate in parallel, attending to transformation as a material and sensory state. Image and text remain autonomous, meeting through proximity rather than illustration.
This text results of AI experiments, close collaboration between artist and by ChatGPT, inspired by Raja Alem’s style.

Editing: Bruno Houdayer - Auteur photographe plasticien

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Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale Diriyah Biennale Foundation

مجموعة «تحوّلات جنّيات لار 1996–2026» كولاج أكريليك ووسائط مختلفة
إصدار محدود: 5 + 1 نسخة فنان (AP)
النصوص المرافقة لا تصف الصور. إنها تعمل بالتوازي معها، متناولةً التحوّل بوصفه حالة مادية وحسّية. تظل الصورة والنص مستقلَّين، يلتقيان عبر التقارب لا عبر الشرح أو الإيضاح.

كُتب هذا النص نتيجة الحوار بين الفنانة و تشات جي بي تي ChatGPT، مستلهَمًا من أسلوب رجاء عالم.

12/02/2026

“Transformation Jinniyat Lar 1996-2026” collection.
Acrylic collage and mix medium.
Limited edition 5 + 1AP
info ℹ️ mp
📍Shown in Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026, Riyadh until May 2, 2026
👇🏽
📖 The accompanying texts do not describe the images. They operate in parallel, attending to transformation as a material and sensory state. Image and text remain autonomous, meeting through proximity rather than illustration.
This text results of AI experiments, close collaboration between artist and by ChatGPT, inspired by Raja Alem’s style.

Editing: Bruno Houdayer - Auteur photographe plasticien

Diriyah Biennale Foundation Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale

مجموعة «تحوّلات جنّيات لار 1996–2026» كولاج أكريليك ووسائط مختلفة
إصدار محدود: 5 + 1 نسخة فنان (AP)
النصوص المرافقة لا تصف الصور. إنها تعمل بالتوازي معها، متناولةً التحوّل بوصفه حالة مادية وحسّية. تظل الصورة والنص مستقلَّين، يلتقيان عبر التقارب لا عبر الشرح أو الإيضاح.

كُتب هذا النص نتيجة الحوار بين الفنانة و تشات جي بي تي ChatGPT، مستلهَمًا من أسلوب رجاء عالم.

جنّية 2 :

أنا ما يتبقّى�بعد أن يُمتحن الشكل .

أحمل ذاكرة الضغط،�كلّ فتحة جرحٌ�تعلّم كيف يحتمل.
لا تبحثوا عن بدايتي.�صاغتني الإعادة،�والعبور في نفسي،�حتى سقط الزائد .

التحوّل ليس نموًّا،�إنّه ما يصمد�حين يعجز السطح عن الادّعاء.

إن عرفتموني،�فلأنّ شيئًا فيكم�قد تآكل من قبل .

18/08/2025

One of Shadia Alem’s works from The Book of Greatness / Heaven and Hell series, this collection draws inspiration from Kitāb al-ʿAẓama, a 10th-century manuscript attributed to Abū al-Shaykh al-Aṣbahānī that vividly maps the realms of Paradise and Hell.

In this tableau, Alem reimagines that cosmology through Arabic calligraphy, collage, and digital media, shaping a swirling vortex of fiery reds, deep greens, and luminous yellows.
Fragmented script drifts between sacred text and abstraction, evoking the tension between order and chaos, revelation and loss.

Printed on ChromaLuxe HD metal, the work becomes a radiant portal where heaven and hell emerge less as fixed places than as shifting states of perception.

ℹ️ infos: https://www.shadiaalem.com/the-heaven-and-hell-by-shadia-alem

02/08/2025

Glad to be part of Art of the Kingdom - Poetic Illuminations at the National Museum of China in Beijing, from July 30 to October 10, 2025. وزارة الثقافة Ministry of Culture KSA - National Museum of China
Featuring two installations:
- Negative No More – from the Ministry of Culture (KSA) collection (وزارة الثقافة | Ministry of Culture) photo 1
- Sand Flowers – from Shadia Alem’s personal collection photo 2

Curator : Diana Wechsler

At , Saudi artists turn the land itself into a living archive. Through sculpture, photography, and installation, they explore how landscapes can carry our histories, our roots, and the echoes of transformation.
Now on view at the National Museum of China , part of - connecting two cultures through the language of art.

📅 30 July – 10 October
☝🏽 Experience it in Beijing.
National Museum of China

©Photos courtesy: SAMoCa and Diana Wechsler

27/06/2025

"Heaven and Hell - The Book of Greatness” #56
by Shadia Alem
55 paintings based on the old manuscript "Kitab al Azama/ “ The Book of Greatness " which depicts the imagination unbound of Heaven and Hell, by the ancient historian Abu Sheikh al-Asbhani : Modes of Transcending Reality in the Arabic Narrative Tradition.

Arabic calligraphy, collage and digital multimedia

Available
Limited edition : 5 + 1 AP, 75 x 100 cm
or
Print copy : 11 + 1AP
more info/price : messenger PM
www.shadiaalem.com

20/04/2025

one of Saudi’s most celebrated contemporary artists, showcases two powerful works at the exhibition: My I Cloud Heritage and Sand Flowers.

My I Cloud Heritage (2014) is a poetic video collage that blends personal memories with cultural history, reimagining the iCloud as a metaphorical cultural archive, preserving the richness of the past for future generations.

Sand Flowers (2014) is a site-specific installation featuring acrylic sculptures with fragments of a poem. The artist invites us to explore the symbolic power of words and culture. The flowers reveal deeper meaning to those who can reconstruct the hidden poem, reflecting on cultural boundaries, identity, and the spoken word.

On view now at SAMoCA, , as part of a landmark exhibition showcasing Saudi contemporary artists.
اختارت شادية عالم، وهي إحدى أشهر الفنانات السعوديات المعاصرات، أن تقدم في معرض عملَين مميّزين بما يحملانه من رمزية ومعانٍ، وهما “سحابة المعلومات” و”زهور الرمل”.

أما في فيديو “سحابة المعلومات” (2014)، فتعرض الفنانة لوحة كولاج تجمع بين الذكريات الشخصية والتاريخ الثقافي، وتُعيد تصوّر السحابة الرقمية على أنها أرشيف ثقافي مجازي يحفظ ثروة الماضي لأجيال المستقبل.

وفي “زهور الرمل” (2014)، وهو تركيب فني مخصّص للموقع، تقدّم الفنانة منحوتات مصنوعة من الأكريليك الشفاف مع أجزاء من قصيدة، وتدعونا إلى استكشاف الرمزية القوية للكلمات والثقافة، حيث تتكشّف الزهور عن معنى أعمق لكل من ينجح في تظهير القصيدة الخفية؛ وكأن العمل يتأمّل في مفاهيم مثل الحدود الثقافية والهوية والكلمة المنطوقة.

يُعرض العملان في ساموكا في حي جاكس، على هامش معرض مميّز يجمع فنانين سعوديين موهوبين في الفن المعاصر.

☝🏽احجز تذكرتك الرابط في البايو.

#جاكس

☝🏽 Click the link in bio to grab your tickets.

12/04/2025

« My i cloud heritage, video installation » by Shadia Alem Islamic art, Calligraphy, Collages, Painting, Drawing and digital artVideo composed of 15 paintings - Limited edition : 5 + AP, 90x200

📍2025: February-Avril Art of the Kingdom: Poetic Illuminations, the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art at Jax (SAMoCA@Jax) SaudiMuseum ‎وزارة الثقافة Ministry of Culture
Curator Diana Wechsler
©video: thank you Al Saeed for sending the video.

Concept

"My i cloud heritage." by Shadia AlemIn this work I invested this modern concept about the ICloud domain, in which the culmination of our human traces , our collective memory and the information archived, are preserved in some sort of a cloud storage, a cloud backup . in this video i embody that cloud-backup, revealing glimpses of my storage, which revolving around our artsy and literature heritage before islam and afterI wanted to say that, we can retrieve those poems, preserved and mixed with aspects of our Islamic heritage revolved around the musical words ( poetry and moalqat )the manuscripts of oldest poetry and the decoration of Al-Kaaba clothes and music- a mixture which enriched our visual memory along the ages. This video is sort of a cultural artist icloud, formed all through history, which I imaged centered around those poems Al-Muaalaqat.

Duration : 3 min 30, 2014

10/03/2025

“Happy everyday, my dear brother@Osama Alem—
A traveler of time, a rock in the storm.
From youthful journeys to steadfast days,
You’ve been our light, guide, our warmth.

In every step, your strength remains,
A heart so kind, a soul so rare.
How peaceful we feel, how safe we stand,
When you say, ‘Whatever you want, I am here and ready with all.’

You are one of a kind, a gift to this world,
A melody of love, a story untold.
May joy embrace you, success surround you,
And life reward you a thousandfold.”

25/02/2025

My installation « Sand Flowers »

2025: February-Avril Art of the Kingdom: Poetic Illuminations, the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art at Jax (SAMoCA@Jax) KSA
Saudi Museum روح السعودية

Curator Wechsler

Medium : acrylic calligraphy on plexiglass
by Shadia Alem

thank you .art for sending the video.

14/02/2025

A special gift to me: this embroidered patch work heart, by the talented Artist Francoise Houdayer. 🥰

Shadia Alem - Visual Artist Saudi Arabia