In partnership with Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives, Edge of Arabia is returning to the Biennale di Venezia with a Collateral Event titled Rhizoma (Generation in Waiting), which will run from May 30 to September 24 and explore the vocabularies of a new generation of Saudi artists. The exhibition will include artworks and projects which embrace technology, science and natural philosophy and aims to shine a light on contemporary creative practices and networks in present day Saudi Arabia.

Curated by London-based art critic and independent curator, Sara Raza, Rhizoma's premise draws from the actual rhizoma, the ancient Greek word for the underground root of a plant that shoots its roots both horizontally and vertically as a metaphor for a bold new generation of artists who are challenging the force of gravity through inspiring projects.

Many of the artists are creating new works specifically for the exhibition. Works present in the exhibition explore multiplicity in both concept and execution deployed via an array of mediums such as new media practices and the employment of internet and video art, photography, sculpture, textiles and installation.

Highlights including several site specific works that subvert geometric spatial dynamics, and special projects by cross-platform YouTube sensations TelFaz11 and UTurn, who will be collaborating with artists to create new realities that reach peer-group audiences in their millions. In addition, a special rhizomatic structure will be especially designed and built within the exhibition by The Amen Art Foundation, a new Riyadh based platform set up by Edge of Arabia co-founder, Abdulnasser Gharem. This platform will stage several art works and projects which function as an extended metaphor for non-linear identities and generational collaborations which Rhizoma promotes. Within this structure, The Khatt Foundation, a nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to advancing design thinking in the Middle East, will run a participatory research station inviting public collaboration in designing the visual identity of the foundation.

Lead curator Sara Raza explains: "Rhizoma is a curatorial project with infinite possibilities to form multiple endings and create new beginnings. The nature of Saudi Arabia's art production is comparable to an actual rhizoma. There is an exciting emerging art scene inside Saudi Arabia that exists at the grassroots and it is purposefully making its ascent upwards. These artists are part of a subterranean network, independent and distinctive in their styles and approach, technologically astute, experimental and possess the ability to break away from the mainstream."

Fady Jameel, President of Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives International said: "We continue to support Edge of Arabia in its mission to highlight the grassroots creative talent, vision and passion amongst Saudi artists. Our support for these artists stems from our firm belief in the value of art and culture in the Arab World, as well as our commitment to supporting this great artistic movement which continues to innovate and grow. I believe that our support ensures that Arabian artists and their work achieves the global recognition it deserves. "

Accompanying the project a series of artist talks and in-conversations will be streamed via the internet cross-connecting the exhibition with audiences in Saudi Arabia and internationally. Social media platforms such as twitter, instagram and facebook shall also serve as extensions of the project further soliciting public engagement and dialogue. A catalogue will accompany the exhibition including a curatorial essay by Sara Raza, poems and an instagram diary by contributor Ashraf Fayadh, an interview between Edge of Arabia co-founder Abdulnasser Gharem and Anna Somers Cocks, as well as contributions by leading artists and cultural practitioners inside and outside of Saudi Arabia.

The exhibition will show the works of the following artists – Abdulkarim Qassem, Abdullah Alothman, Ahaad Alamoudi, Ahmad Angawi, Basmah Felemban, Batool Alshomrani, Dana Awrtani, Eiman Elgibreen, Eyad Maghazil, Heba Abed, Huda Beydoun, Mala’a Al-Amoudi, Mohammad Makki, Nasser Salem, Nora A.

La Biennale di Venezia
Magazzini del Sale
262 Dorsoduro Fondamenta delle Zattere
Venice 30124 Italy
Ph. +44 (0)20 73501336
info@edgeofarabia.com
www.edgeofarabia.com

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