Museum Guide: Beijing - Saudi Contemporary Art and Mosques in the Desert
Reposted from the web
Summary: The Saudi contemporary art exhibition at the National Museum of China ran from July 31 to October 30, 2025 and included paintings, sculpture, photography, and installation works. This account highlights desert imagery, Moath Alofi mosque photographs, Ahmad Angawi mihrab works, and Arabic-script objects in the Ancient China gallery.
From July 31 to October 30, 2025, the National Museum of China is hosting the exhibition Art of the Kingdom: Contemporary Saudi Arabian Art, featuring works including paintings, sculptures, and installation art.
The first section displays Saudi modernist paintings from the 1960s to the 1980s. Here are a few lines from the introduction:
Fine desert sand is sealed in resin, becoming an amber of time. From vast desert imagery to the reinterpretation of cultural memory, and from deep reflection on social roles to the exploration of environment and urban life, the exhibition works present many layers of an ever-evolving society.
One set of works I particularly like is the 2017 light box installation The Last Witness by Moath Alofi, which features his photographs of small mosques found in the wilderness along the route to Medina.
Ahmad Angawi's 2025 work, The Simplicity in Multiplicity, features five mihrab niches arranged in sequence to represent the five daily namaz, with the infinite extension of geometric patterns representing the infinity of faith (imani).
After seeing the SCO exhibition and the Saudi contemporary art exhibition on the first floor of the National Museum, you can head downstairs to the Ancient China exhibition to see a Ming dynasty incense burner with Arabic script and a Qing dynasty incense box with Arabic script, both of which show faith (imani) expressed through objects.
Summary: The Saudi contemporary art exhibition at the National Museum of China ran from July 31 to October 30, 2025 and included paintings, sculpture, photography, and installation works. This account highlights desert imagery, Moath Alofi mosque photographs, Ahmad Angawi mihrab works, and Arabic-script objects in the Ancient China gallery.
From July 31 to October 30, 2025, the National Museum of China is hosting the exhibition Art of the Kingdom: Contemporary Saudi Arabian Art, featuring works including paintings, sculptures, and installation art.
The first section displays Saudi modernist paintings from the 1960s to the 1980s. Here are a few lines from the introduction:
Fine desert sand is sealed in resin, becoming an amber of time. From vast desert imagery to the reinterpretation of cultural memory, and from deep reflection on social roles to the exploration of environment and urban life, the exhibition works present many layers of an ever-evolving society.
One set of works I particularly like is the 2017 light box installation The Last Witness by Moath Alofi, which features his photographs of small mosques found in the wilderness along the route to Medina.
Ahmad Angawi's 2025 work, The Simplicity in Multiplicity, features five mihrab niches arranged in sequence to represent the five daily namaz, with the infinite extension of geometric patterns representing the infinity of faith (imani).
After seeing the SCO exhibition and the Saudi contemporary art exhibition on the first floor of the National Museum, you can head downstairs to the Ancient China exhibition to see a Ming dynasty incense burner with Arabic script and a Qing dynasty incense box with Arabic script, both of which show faith (imani) expressed through objects.
