Saudi Arabia: Jawaher Bint Majid’s arts project

Through the not-for-profit Saudi Art Council which she established in 2013, Princess Jawaher Bint Majid Bin Abdelaziz supported Fast Forward, the main exhibition at the second 21,39 arts festival in Jeddah, which runs until 22 March. The contemporary arts festival this year highlighted the history of modern Saudi art – focusing on the lively scene apparent from 1960, when art was first added to the school curriculum, until the Mecca siege in 1979, after which conservative religious figures cracked down. Visiting 21,39, The Art Newspaper said contemporary art “involves only a handful of [Saudis] but it is intelligent, questing, radical and, above all, not market-driven”.