Red Sea Museum to Present 'Photographing Distance' by Argentine Artist Matilde Marín

The Red Sea Museum, under the Museums Commission, will present Photographing Distance: Matilde Marín from October 8 to December 31, 2026, the artist’s first exhibition in Saudi Arabia.
 Through photography and video, the exhibition brings the Argentine contemporary artist’s long-running study of lighthouses into dialogue with the maritime histories, journeys and coastal memory of the Red Sea, including works focused on the lighthouses of Jeddah and Yanbu.
 Since 2005, Marín has developed the Pharus Project, documenting lighthouses across different geographies and treating them not only as architecture and maritime markers, but as symbols of guidance, hope and orientation.
 At the Red Sea Museum, this inquiry takes on a local dimension. Through the lighthouses of Jeddah and Yanbu, Marín's wider body of work connects to the Red Sea as a historic route of movement and exchange, opening a conversation between contemporary art, maritime heritage and the ways people remember places.
 CEO of the Museums Commission Eng. Abdullah Al-Hammad said: "Photographing Distance is a wonderful example of how museums are becoming living spaces where contemporary art speaks to our own history and helps people see the Red Sea, and themselves, in a new light. Matilde Marín's lighthouses invite our visitors to come, look closer, and discover something of their own story in hers."
 Matilde Marín said: “For 20 years, I have followed lighthouses across very different coasts, and each one has taught me something about distance, about how we look toward what we cannot yet reach.”
 The exhibition opening on October 8 will bring together art, dialogue and music. A multidisciplinary public program will run throughout the exhibition, with film screenings, poetry and musical performances, creative workshops and participatory experiences. Highlights include sessions on photography and landscape, an exploration of how food carries memories across journeys, and lighthouse-making workshops for children and families. Together, the program connects Marín's work with the Red Sea and invites audiences of different ages and abilities to explore distance, guidance, belonging and memory through multiple creative forms.
 The Photographing Distance exhibition at the Red Sea Museum reflects the Museums Commission’s ongoing efforts to support Saudi Arabia’s arts and cultural landscape and further strengthen the role of museums as platforms for cultural exchange and creative dialogue. By presenting local and international artistic practices, the commission continues to create opportunities for audiences to engage with art and culture in meaningful ways.
 For visitor information and bookings, visit:  https://webook.com/ar/sa/jed/activities-adventures/events/photographing-86distance-moc89