- Home
- ARTISTS
- Etel Adnan
- Ghada Amer
- Hangama Amiri
- Yto Barrada
- Rana Begum
- Huguette Caland
- Manal Al Dowayan
- Mandy El-Sayegh
- Monir Farmanfarmaian
- Simone Fattal
- Lamya Gargash
- Daniele Genadry
- Zeinab Al Hashermi
- Mona Hatoum
- Susan Hefuna
- Maryam Hoseini
- Helen Khal
- Hayv Kharaman
- Laleh Khorramian
- Tala Madani
- Shaikha Al Mazrou
- Maysha Mohamedi
- Naqsh Collective
- Shirin Neshat
- Monira Al Qadiri
- Farah Al Qasimi
- Alymamah Rashed
- Haleh Redjaian
- Mona Saudi
- Hoda Tawakol
- Helen Zughaib
- About
- News
- Contact
MANAL AL DOWAYAN
About the Artist
Manal Al Dowayan (b. 1973, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) is widely acclaimed for her multidisciplinary practice that often creates a dialogue with communities, particularly the community of women in the Middle East. Al Dowayan studied computer information systems at Suffolk University, Boston (1999) and then information systems analysis and design at London Metropolitan University (2003). She worked as creative director for Saudi Aramco, and in 2009 she was invited by the Delfina Foundation to participate in their residency programme. The artist lives and works between Dubai, London and Dhahran.
Al Dowayan’s thought-provoking pieces draw on a collective plea arising from both her personal experiences and those of women living in Saudi Arabia. She promotes the female voice through her art: by contextualising memories and using archival records, she gives prominence to the narratives that form the lives of women in Saudi Arabia.
Manal AlDowayan. Courtesy of the artist and Sabrina Amrani.
Credits: Harriet Hill
IN THE COLLECTION
Manal Al Dowayan, "Flock II", 2008-2020
Fiber glass, five elements, each 20 x 18 x 32 cm
Courtesy the artist and Sabrina Amrani Gallery
Flock II (2008–2020) is one of a series culminating in Al Dowayan’s installation Suspended Together (2011) – a room filled with two hundred porcelain doves in flight, attached to the ceiling by threads.
Upon closer inspection, the viewer sees that each dove is stamped with the authorisation documents required. Under Saudi law: Saudi women could only travel with the official permission of their appointed male guardians. In 2017 this rule was abolished, giving women full control of their affairs. Al Dowayan collaborated with women across the country who shared their documents: examples range from those belonging to a six-month-old child to those of a 60-year-old woman, from professional people – engineers, journalists – to leading community figures.
In Flock II, the five birds symbolise freedom yet are not in flight; there is only the illusion of autonomous movement. Pieces from Al Dowayan’s celebrated Suspended Together are held by the British Museum. The series exemplifies the artist’s poignant, participatory practice.