Ithra opens Echoes of the Familiar, Exploring the Meaning of Home in Contemporary Art

Dhahran – Asdaf News:

The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), an initiative by Aramco, presents Echoes of the Familiar, an exhibition that explores the deeply personal and universally resonant theme of “home.”

Curated by Saudi curator Gaida AlMogren, the exhibition presents 28 works, including 17 new commissions, by 28 Saudi artists that explore themes of the memory, nostalgia, customs, and rituals that shaped Saudi domestic life throughout the 20th century, and how these continue to influence cultural identity today.

Conceived as a journey through the intimate architecture of a traditional Saudi home, the exhibition unfolds across a sequence of evocative spaces, The Building, The Living Room, The Kitchen, The Hallway of Memories, The Bedroom, and The People of the Home. Each setting reimagines familiar domestic environments as thresholds between the personal and the collective, where memory and identity continuously intertwine.

Within these spaces, artworks revisit the everyday gestures that define Saudi life – shared meals, family rituals, conversations that linger late into the night – and translate them into contemporary visual narratives. Together, they chart the evolution of a sense of self that is at once deeply rooted in tradition and dynamically engaged with change.

As the visitor moves through the home, they traverse layers of belonging and transformation. The exhibition becomes a meditation on how domestic life shapes not only our social bonds but also our evolving understanding of who we are – individually and as a community.

Farah Abushullaih, Head of the Ithra Museum, said: “Echoes of the Familiar reflects Ithra’s enduring commitment to supporting Saudi artistic practices and documenting the cultural and social transformations shaping the Kingdom’s ever-evolving present. By evoking the home as a symbolic space where memory and identity intersect, the exhibition offers a lens through which to read both self and society within a landscape defined by movement and change. The featured works reinterpret the details of everyday home life through contemporary visual language, revealing them as fundamental elements of collective consciousness and shared human experience. In doing so, Ithra continues its mission to foster cultural dialogue and empower creativity as a pathway to rediscover heritage in a living, dynamic form that resonates with all members of the community.”

“Echoes of the Familiar reflects Ithra’s role in supporting Saudi artists and documenting cultural change in the Kingdom. By centering the home as a space of memory and connection, the exhibition brings together generations of artists whose works present everyday life in Saudi Arabia. It continues Ithra’s mission to connect heritage with contemporary creativity in ways that engage and inspire audiences.”

Echoes of the Familiar combines multi-sensory artworks, immersive installations, and digital media to merge Saudi pop culture with heritage, while connecting generations and fostering dialogue between the past and present.

Gaida AlMogren, curator of the exhibition, said: “Home is where our dreams first learned to walk. The bedroom opens a window into privacy, aspirations, and self-discovery. Here, childhood toys meet pop culture memorabilia; these objects, seemingly mundane, contain entire worlds. Contemporary artworks in this space explore themes of identity and growing up within the walls of a changing nation. Through layered textures and soft light, artists invoke memory not as history but as feeling, echoing Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s assertion that our environment shapes our very perception of self.”

Through Echoes of the Familiar, Ithra continues to support the diversity and growth of the Saudi creative landscape while promoting dialogue between artists, audiences, and institutions, encouraging engagement with the Kingdom’s heritage and inspiring its future.