A Force to Reckon With | Manal AlDowayan

FOLIO by Alserkal

Manal AlDowayan is one of Saudi Arabia’s most significant artists. Her impressive body of photography, sculpture, and video works is often on show on the other side of the world, while she is in situ elsewhere. AlDowayan’s keen sense of perspective makes for bold, exploratory pieces that speak of a woman’s lot in today’s world. At Alserkal Avenue, for example, AlDowayan exhibited a landmark multi-video installation (I Had No Wings, 2015), commissioned by Rolls Royce, that examined the (then) precarious position of women in Saudi as car passengers, but never drivers. Now, just following the installation of one her works at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, AlDowayan is preparing to leave for a major, site-specific solo show in Madrid with Sabrina Amrani Gallery ((12 January-30 March). Fari Bradley catches up with this Dubai-based artist, to find out more about her evolving methodologies, the shifting significance of her work, and the thought behind her practice. Follow AlDowayan's work at www.manaldowayan.com