Bedayat: Beginnings of Saudi Art Movement Showcases Formative Years of Modern Saudi Art
The Visual Arts Commission announced new details on the themes and featured works of the exhibition “Bedayat: Beginnings of Saudi Art Movement,” which documents a pivotal period in the Kingdom’s art history and traces the emergence of modern Saudi art through more than 250 artworks by 73 artists.
The exhibition highlights works dating from the 1960s to the 1980s, a period that witnessed the development of modern and abstract visual languages shaped by the interaction between individual creative initiatives and the growth of cultural infrastructure and institutional support. These factors contributed to laying the foundations of the Saudi art movement.
The exhibition will open on January 27 and run until April 11, 2026, at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. It includes artworks being displayed publicly for the first time, alongside archival materials that offer new perspectives on the formative years of modern art in the Kingdom.
The exhibition represents the inaugural presentation of a broader two-year research program launched by the commission. The program includes more than 80 site visits, 120 artist reports, and 50 interviews with artists, researchers, and individuals involved in preserving the memory of that era.
CEO of the Visual Arts Commission Dina Amin said the exhibition presents a comprehensive picture of the creative achievements of pioneering artists and supporters of the movement. She noted that bringing together artworks and archival materials enables the public to engage with a rich and diverse visual history and underscores the importance of preserving this heritage as a source of inspiration for future generations.
The exhibition is structured into three main sections. The first explores the foundations of the Kingdom’s modern art movement, highlighting artists’ contributions to building institutional frameworks and independent initiatives, and tracing the introduction of art education in schools from the 1940s through the 1980s.
The second section, “Currents of Modernity,” examines artistic production through four thematic pillars: Nature and Landscape, Social Life, Faces and Features, and Dreams and Symbols. These themes reflect the realities of the period and bring together cultural heritage and social transformation.
The third section focuses on key modernist pioneers, including Safeya Binzagr, Abdulhalim Radwi, Mohammed Alsaleem, and Mounirah Mosly, whose artistic journeys helped shape and consolidate a modern art movement whose influence continues to resonate in the contemporary scene.
The exhibition reflects the Visual Arts Commission’s commitment to documenting and preserving the Kingdom’s visual culture. It will be accompanied by a cultural program featuring workshops and panel discussions, as well as a scholarly publication and a documentary film to be released at a later date.
