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Nisma Rafiq
Saudi Gazette
Saudi artist Heba Abed successfully represented herself beyond boundaries at Florence Biennale last month.
Florence Biennale is an historic event that occurs every two years in the heart of Italy. The first Florence Bienniale took place in 1997 with a gathering of artists from all over the world. It is one of the most complete and diversified contemporary art exhibitions in the world, with internationally renowned artists such as David Hockey, Christo and Jeanne-Claude. What makes the event unique is that it provides a platform for intercultural dialogues and propagation of tolerance and respect between different people through art and culture.
Scotoma famed artist Heba Abed held a marvelous exhibition at Bienniale this year representing Saudi Arabia at an international level.
“I got an invitation to participate in the X-edition of Florence Biennale. The Biennale Internazionale d’Arte Contemporanea di Firenze, or Florence Biennale which is an event of excellence in the contemporary art scene,” Abed said. She spoke with Saudi Gazette about her experience: “Artists from all over the world come to Florence, where we have the chance to experience cross-cultural dialogue and contribute to making this biennial a reference model. The experience was amazing and one of a kind. I was surprised with the welcome artists from Saudi Arabia received, that made me proud.”
She got the honor to present her work at two Binneles this year. “I was part of the first edition of RomArt Biennale - The cradle of International Art and a platform to host Painting, Sculpture, Graphic Design, Photography, Video, Digital Art, and many other forms. In RomArt Biennale I exhibited two of my new paintings series, they were inspired from Kalila wa-Dimna or (Calila e Dimna) which is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in verse and prose, arranged, within a frame story which is a translation by the Persian Ibn al-Muqaffa’ to Arabic in the 8th century,” she added.
Each painting illustrates a story of the book in a different way than the old Indian Persian tale, one of them tells the story of the White Bull with a moral lesson, ‘You Reap What You Sow’.
“I met many international artists in Florence. By talking to them and learning more about them and their cultures, I felt that I could touch the desire of the world peace in each soul of those artists, and how they could change the world by their creative imaginations. I wanted to live in that space much longer. I realized that the art is a peaceful world.”
