ARWA ALNEAMI
A WOMAN'S REALITY
BETWEEN MYSTERY AND MYSTIC
I am not writing about Arwa Alneami.
I am writing about the amazing woman artist behind the veil.
Resplendently feminine, strong like a solid gold, unbreakable like a Goddess of the ancient times.
Nothing can describe her better than her own artworks, photographs, installations, videos, all together speaking about a very talented woman gifted with humor, sense of satire, mastering perfectly a good portion of parody with a smart sparkle of self confidence.
SOUND OF CARDAMOM is the most beautiful, poetically artwork dedicated to the old traditional villages of her birthplace.
The silent night surrounded by jinns and unspoken dreams, wishes, desires, and the amazing scents and smell of the Cardamom.
Mysterious and emotional, a story about souls, nights, secrets, traditions and customs.
NEVER NEVER LAND, the unusual and courageous story in images of a Saudi park, women , children, veils, hijab, abaya, images speaking about the hidden wishes for equality between men and women. A story starting as a souvenir of the childhood, sisterhood , brotherhood and the nowadays parks.
Challenging the future, making things happen, rules, customs, a story about how it is and how should be.
RED LIPSTICK, fabulous description of the hijab culture. Mystery, romance, erotism, sensuality, purity, innocence - FEMININITY to another dimension. The artwork is extremely expressive, showing how a hidden face is maybe - or for sure - infinitely more attractive, suggestive , provocative behind the veil.
Red represents the passion and the tyranny. The traditional veil associated with the bright colour of the lipstick gives us a very special message, or even more, a very special story starting with : Here I am. Find me if you can.
SPRING CAMELS speaks about what today is the symbol of the tourism in Arab countries : Camels. In a very floral, emotional, poetical form and images, the artist offers her homage to the best friend of the desert. Not to that cliché subject « camels for tourism » but to that loyal companion of humans middle of the desert.
Camels as celebration, colourfully festive, welcoming the Springtime, eternal symbols of the endless journey, travellers and travel, silent, hard working, melancholic and trustful.
Again, an artistic subject based on the souvenirs of the past.
PIECE OF PARADISE is a profound, deep meditation about the secrets behind the Dome, Arwa being the first female ever to photograph inside of the Masjid Al Nawabi Mosque in Medina, the second most important Holy Place of the Islamic world after Mecca.
Unique experience for the woman artist who knew how to observe, feel and transfer to us the secrets and the beauty of Faith and Destiny.
Arwa Alneami, born in Khamis Mushait, originally from Rijal Alma mountains village in the southern part of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom, grew up in the King Khalid Military Airbase where her father was an officer.
She joined the well known Al Meftaha Arts village in Abha and 2005 she won the prestigious Southern Region Arts Award under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al Feisal.
must confess, I am absolutely charmed by the Saudi heritage. I am always ready to discover the new changes of the society, being in the same time forever in love with the old heritage, the magnificent old stories with tends, cardamom, hijab and camels.
Taif is maybe one of the most beautiful places on earth where the mystic and the mystery are going hand in hand welcoming the fabulous nature, provoking the jinns with the freshness of the mountains and flowers.
Arwa Alneami. speaks perfectly the artistic language of the Saudi ancestry, giving a new, modern interpretation to the old stories.
She is not only an artist of avant-garde with modern visions, she is a brave woman who knows how to define in her artworks the limits between the mystic, mystery and reality.
Dear Arwa, do you consider yourself a Saudi artist or international artist ?
I'm international SAUDI artist.
How do you reflect the actual Saudi society in your artworks ?
Through everything. Sensory stimulation, photo, smelling, sound, video, and stores of the drawing in my region and my country through the motivational messages to the recipient that make those who spectator or sense the the artworks thinking differently outside the box whether it is historical, humanitarian or feminist or human.
Have you been influenced by the western artists or media ?
Of course I am impressed and I am a follower of all the influenced arts and not limited to the bright names, but I am a person who has traveled a lot and I love to meet all the artists Writers, poets, journalists, singers, cooks, and innovators in various fields and all that makes me feel that what they do with love is art for me and I cannot reduce the word art to one field. I see everything that is made by real with love and beauty is piece of art and from all this world and I like to listen and enjoy the conversations and their experiences.
How much important is your Saudi heritage and your birthplace for your artistic development?
My stuck legacy It made my artwork read the future.
I believe it's will be happening Greater awareness about the theory of equality between the sexes, I always seek to reconsider the core and not look at the outer shell only with all love and peace.
The pillars of life, its stories and experience, from here the beginning of the attachment to the concept of art is not reduced to one thing.
Art in Asir is in everything in atmosphere in air, nature, food, clothes, music, dance, agriculture, poetry, homes, architecture and even ethics.
What is your actual project ? Do you have an artistic statement ?
Through everything that stimulates the senses, such as photographs and videos with feelings that experience in the moments, the smell that evokes the memory to revive the moment, the voice that solidifies in your mind and, the stories of women who paint on the walls of homes in Asir my region and record them in UNESCO 2015.
Monica Mergiu
ROYAL ARTS VISIONS ; ARWA ALNEAMI