Land artist Zahrah Al Ghamdi’s tactile encounters in Venice
Saudi Arabia returns to the Venice Biennale after an eight-year hiatus with an installation by the Jeddah-based artist

Saudi Arabian artist Zahrah Al Ghamdi spends weeks assembling site-specific works in natural materials such as sand, rocks and leather. The Jeddah-based artist is part of an all-female cast who focus on memory, nostalgia, and the tensions between Saudi traditions and globalisation in their work. An A-lister among regional collectors, Al Ghamdi also headlines in prestigious venues such as the Jameel Arts Centre and Alserkal Avenue in Dubai.
In preparation for her Venice Biennale presentation at the Sale d’Armi, a 15th-century weapons depot, Al Ghamdi spent months cutting, sewing, shredding, boiling, drying and burning local leather into 52,000 abstract pieces. They reference random organic forms, Aseeri ornaments and local architecture of Al-Baha, her birth village in the southwest of the country.
RELATED STORY
Entitled After Illusion, the installation is inspired by an ancient Arabic poem by Zuhayr bin Abī Sūlmā (520-609), in which he describes his struggle to recognise his home after being away for 20 years. Al Ghamdi left Saudi to complete a Masters and a PHD at Coventry University before returning to Jeddah in 2009, so it’s a sentiment she understands. Today, her village is almost in ruins.
Leather and cotton reference a childhood spent herding sheep with her grandfather, and last year, for the annual Shubbak Festival, she created an installation of lines of sand, dirt and inconspicuous objects sourced her village at the British Museum. In the 2017 edition of the festival, the artist participated in the UK’s first all-women show of artists from Saudi Arabia.
INFORMATION
The 2019 Venice Biennale runs from 11 May – 24 November. For more information, visit Zahrah Al Ghamdi’s website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Emma O'Kelly is a freelance journalist and author based in London. Her books include Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat and she is currently working on a UK guide to wild saunas, due to be published in 2025.
-
Welcome to io: OpenAI acquires Jony Ive’s secret startup to shape the form of future AI
Jony Ive’s LoveFrom has spent two years assembling io, a crack team of specialists to visualise the physical form of Artificial Intelligence. Newly acquired by Sam Altman at ChatGPT, this tech supergroup hopes to re-shape the landscape of Silicon Valley and our relationship with tech
-
Chelsea Flower Show unfurled: a year of pause, thought and promise
This week’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show – now in its 112th year – has begun to reveal its defining spirit. This year is one of tentative readjustment: a reassuring exploration of the ‘future garden’, and the ways in which landscape design might tackle climate and conservation challenges
-
Milan exhibition celebrates 20 years of Armani Privé: ‘Haute couture is fashion when it becomes art’
Hosted at the Tadao Ando-designed Armani/Silos, ‘Giorgio Armani Privé 2005-2025, Twenty Years of Haute Couture’ displays an expansive collection of the Italian designer’s showstopping haute couture creations
-
Luc Tuymans debuts his largest ever paintings at Venice’s majestic San Giorgio Maggiore Basilica
Luc Tuymans is the latest artist to be commissioned by San Giorgio to present work inside its famous space
-
Remembering Koyo Kouoh, the Cameroonian curator due to lead the 2026 Venice Biennale
Kouoh, who died this week aged 57, was passionate about the furtherance of African art and artists, and also contributed to international shows, being named the first African woman to curate the Venice Biennale
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been up to this week
Much of the Wallpaper* team found itself congregating in Venice this week, whether that be for the annual architecture biennale or to check out a new creative platform. Work and play took the rest of us to Miami, Malta and… Dalston
-
Saskia Colwell’s playful drawings resemble marble sculptures
Saskia Colwell draws on classical and modern references for ‘Skin on Skin’, her solo exhibition at Victoria Miro, Venice
-
Remembering Oliviero Toscani, fashion photographer and author of provocative Benetton campaigns
Best known for the controversial adverts he shot for the Italian fashion brand, former art director Oliviero Toscani has died, aged 82
-
Distracting decadence: how Silvio Berlusconi’s legacy shaped Italian TV
Stefano De Luigi's monograph Televisiva examines how Berlusconi’s empire reshaped Italian TV, and subsequently infiltrated the premiership
-
Louis Fratino leans into queer cultural history in Italy
Louis Fratino’s 'Satura', on view at the Centro Pecci in Italy, engages with queer history, Italian landscapes and the body itself
-
Don't miss Luxembourg's retro-futuristic lab pavilion in Venice
As the Venice Biennale enters its last few weeks, catch 'A Comparative Dialogue Act' at the Luxembourg Pavilion