Selected Essays

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Singing Without Music

Ahmed Mater for Art Asia Pacific

Art Education in Saudi Arabia

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Development of the Saudi Art Scene from 1960

Ahmed Mater for Sotheby's

Tracing the forces that shaped modern and contemporary practice in the kingdom

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A Manifesto for Saudi Art

Ahmed Mater for Art Asia Pacific

Reflects on the evolving contemporary art nexus of Saudi Arabia

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Soundless Space, Reflections on the Work of Sebastião Salgado

Ahmed Mater

The story started at the end of February 1991 when a black cloud spread out between the stars and their image.

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Affiliate Organisations

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Founded in 2025, the Ahmed Mater Foundation is a community platform, providing support to emerging local artists while bringing regional and international leaders in arts and culture to Abha, the capital of Asir.

Founded 1989 in Abha by the then Governor of Asir, HRH Prince Khaled bin Faisal Al-Saud as a cultural centre incorporating artists' studios, exhibition space, shops, a public theatre and a mosque.

Founded 2001 in Abha by Ahmed Mater, Ashraf Fayadh, Abdulnasser Gharem, Abdulkarim Qassem and Muhammad Khidr. This artist collective challenged existing modes of art practice in Saudi Arabia.

Founded March 2003 in Abha by Stephen Stapleton, Ahmed Mater and Abdulnasser Gharem as an artist-led platform for cultural exchange, diplomacy and production between the Arab and Western World.

Founded 2014 in Jeddah by Ahmed Mater as a community arts organisation aiming to awaken Saudi civil society to contemporary ways of thinking, innovation and sustainable cultural developmen

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