Jeddah’s new creative complex Hayy Jameel launches with a five-month opening season on December 6, 2021: a broad range of exhibitions and arts programmes featuring more than 45 artists and creatives from around 20 countries, is followed in the Spring by the inauguration of partner creative spaces and Saudi’s first independent cinema
Jeddah – 
Art Jameel, the independent organisation that supports artists and creative communities, announces the opening season of Hayy Jameel in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from December 6, 2021, through to April 30, 2022. The opening season culminates 75 years of Jameel family global philanthropy, with each month celebrating Hayy Jameel’s varied elements: December 2021 inaugurates Hayy Arts and a roster of new exhibitions, commissions, projects and installations revealed across the creative complex, accompanied by Hayy Learning and Hayy Studios programmes; January – February 2022 is marked by Jeddah’s cultural entrepreneurship with the launch of the first Hayy Residents’ spaces; and March – April 2022 sees the opening of Hayy Cinema, and a celebration of Hayy Community through a series of programmes, workshops, screenings and a special Ramadan calendar.
Hayy Jameel’s opening season from December 6, 2021 begins with a focus on visual arts. The highly collaborative, innovative inaugural programme is steeped in long-term research and marked by participatory, material interventions that range from installations made of chocolate through to immersive light works and audiovisual structures, rooted in the context of Jeddah yet speaking to urgent themes of global relevance. The programme includes more than 45 artists and researchers from around 20 countries and features existing and newly-commissioned works by 19 Saudi artists.
Hayy Jameel, a 17,000-square-metre cultural complex, is designed by waiwai, an award-winning multidisciplinary architecture, landscape, interior, graphic and urban design studio, with offices in Dubai and Tokyo. Hayy Jameel’s building design has received multiple architectural accolades, including Gold in the Hong Kong Design Awards; Silver in the New York Design Awards; the Honour Award for Exceptional Design by the American Institute of Architects (Middle East chapter); and nominations for the 2A Continental Architectural Award and the London Design Awards. Principle architects Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto were recently awarded the Golden Lionfor their curation of the UAE Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale; Hayy Jameel is their first major public building.
Fady Jameel, Chairman and Founder of Art Jameel, commented: “Hayy Jameel’s opening has been 20 years in the making and marks the celebration of over three-quarters of a century of Jameel philanthropic and community activities – manifesting at a dynamic moment and exceptionally exciting time for cultural life in Saudi Arabia. The effort and passion of those who make up the Hayy Jameel community mirror that of Art Jameel and our commitment to driving positive change and realising the potential of people and a city like Jeddah. I thank everyone for their hard work and collaborative spirit, especially our partners, the artists, and the community at large.”
Commenting on the announcement of the opening of Hayy Jameel, Antonia Carver, Director of Art Jameel also added: “Hayy Jameel opens in concert with a robust cultural calendar in Saudi, from coast to coast, including the launch of the first Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, Red Sea International Film Festival, Misk Art Week, Tuwaiq International Sculpture Symposium and many more. Since its early days, Art Jameel’s working model has always been collaborative, dynamic and cross-disciplinary, complementing existing infrastructures while creating opportunities for alignment and expansion. Hayy Jameel has come at the right time, in the right city where contemporary art meets a history shaped by trade and tradition.”
Hayy Jameel’s Opening Season Programming
Hayy Arts
‘Staple: What’s on your plate?’
December 6, 2021 – April 30, 2022
The Hayy Arts “neighbourhood museum” opens with an exhibition co-curated by Art Jameel’s Rahul Gudipudi and Delfina Foundation’s Dani Burrows. ‘Staple: What’s on your plate?’ features 21 artworks, including seven new research-based commissions, developed in a “food lab” that has run for the past year. The exhibition draws upon the two institutions’ long-standing interest in food futures and the eco-social entanglements of what we eat.
Through a plethora of media that spans chocolate sculptures, beehives, print and audiovisual installations sampled from Jeddah, the exhibition looks at themes of trade, exchange, coloniality, labour, tradition, myth and neo-imperial food production. Engaging with artists and researchers from the wider region, South Asia and Africa through to Europe and beyond, ‘Staple: What on your plate?’ is the first exhibition of its kind in the Kingdom.
Participating artists include Leen Ajlan, Mouza Almatroushi, Bricklab x Misht Studio, CATPC (Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs de Plantation Congolaise), Annalee Davis, Mohammad Al Faraj, Asunción Molinos Gordo, Mariam Al Noaimi, Pratchaya Phinthong, Sancintya Mohini Simpson, Fatima Uzdenova, Munem Wasif and Lantian Xie with films by Jonathas de Andrade, Florence Lazar, Franziska Pierwoss, Suha Shoman and Zina Saro Wiwa.
An accompanying robust and interactive public and learning programme includes artists, performers and researchers in addition to a rolling film programme of documentaries; talks; cooking and planting workshops; food tours and pop-ups with local producers. Participating artists include Bricklab, Mariam Al Noaimi, Cooking Sections, Salma Serry, Slavs and Tatars, Lantian Xie and Raed Yassin together with Ute Wassermann.
‘Illuminate: A Noor Riyadh Capsule’
December 6, 2021 – February 6, 2022
Situated across Hayy Jameel’s first floor is a series of large-scale, immersive light installations on tour and adapted from the inaugural 2021 Noor Riyadh festival organised by Riyadh Art. ‘Illuminate: A Noor Riyadh Capsule’ brings together works by 11 major Saudi artists who have contributed significantly to furthering the technical and social practice of art-making in the Kingdom and the wider region. In their new guise at Hayy Jameel, the works respond to the role of the arts in the city, in the context of Jeddah’s new community hub. Participating artists include Ahmed Angawi, Dana Awartani, Ayman Daydban, Manal Al Dowayan, Sultan bin Fahad, Ahmed Mater, Maha Malluh, Marwah Al Mugait, Nasser Al Salem, Rashed Al Shashai and Saeed Gamhawi.
‘Paused Mirror: The Saudi Artists’ by Osama Esid
December 2021 – December 2022
Hayy Jameel’s first year is marked by a new commission by artist Osama Esid that takes as a starting point his background in portraiture and explorations of historical photography methods. ‘Paused Mirror’ draws on Osama Esid’s “wet plate collodion” portraits and landscapes, and is developed via a collaborative journey through the Kingdom, setting up field studios in and around Riyadh, the Eastern Province and Jeddah, and working with host artists and organisations to capture portraits of Saudi artists; these are then set for display throughout Hayy Jameel’s three storeys. The project is intended as a tribute to Saudi artists, who are at the heart of Hayy Community. The textural, hands-on nature of the photographic method also reflects Hayy Jameel’s commitment to the artistic process, and the trust placed in and between artists and the institution.
The Hayy Jameel Façade Commission
December 6, 2021 – August 1, 2022
The Hayy Jameel Façade Commission is a new annual programme that gives one artist the opportunity to develop a major public work for the 25-metre “canvas” on the front of the building — a feature integral to the architectural intent. The 2021-22 commission was selected by a nomination and rigorous jury process, and —announced here for the first time — has been awarded to Riyadh-based painter and sculptor Nasser Almulhim. For the first edition of Hayy Jameel’s Façade Commission, Almulhim is adorning the pedestrian facing Façade with an intricate design titled Contours on Collective Consciousness. The piece is inspired by the regional folklore The Dove, The Partridge and The Crow, which recounts the story of birds in a time of famine and hunger. The proposal was developed in partnership with artist and architect Tamara Kalo. The Commission is kindly supported by Lexus.
Workshops and Public Programming
Hayy Learning is a community-focused education platform with a rolling programme that embraces in-person and virtual learning, research and apprenticeships. The three programmes noted below will occupy Hayy Studios – the production spaces on the top floor of the complex. As part of Hayy Jameel’s opening season, the following workshops will be available to the public:
‘The Hospitable Ear’ with Julia Tieke and Zainab Ali Reza
December 6 – 20, 2021
Hayy Jameel’s opening month includes ‘The Hospitable Ear’, a research project and workshop led by Julia Tieke and programmed by Zainab Ali Reza, and is a collaboration between Art Jameel and the Goethe Institute. The extended workshop, attended by Jeddah-based creatives, explores the local soundscapes of the city and the competing rhythms of its sprawling and fast-developing neighbourhoods. Departing from inquiries around the concept of hospitality, our ability to listen and attune ourselves to others and the impossibility of not-hearing, the workshop looks at sound as a community-building agent. Julia’s findings will be accessible to the public via a series of open studios and talks.
‘A Menu and its Leftovers: Finding the Voices in Jeddah’s Food Histories’ with Salma Serry
December 8 – 20, 2021
Led by food researcher, writer and filmmaker Salma Serry, this series of workshops looks into the unique voice of Jeddah’s food culture as materialised in family recipes, generational cookbooks and ephemera, as well as the collective cultural appreciation for the act and ritual of convening and cooking. The workshops take the form and sequence of a five-course menu: the welcoming coffee and dates, the appetizer, the soup and salad, followed by a main course, and finally, dessert. Together with the participants, Serry unravels the ways that food, history, and culture are interconnected. The programme ends with a collaborative published work, conceived as the “leftovers,” i.e. testaments to the various research threads followed during the sessions.
‘This is an Edible Gold’ designed and facilitated by Hayy Learning and Beeways
December 11, 14, 18, 2021
In collaboration with local apiary Beeways and part of artist Moza Almatrooshi’s commissioned work on view at Hayy Arts, There is an Edible Gold, this workshop series hosts beehives from nomadic apiaries as they make their seasonal journey south from Al-Jawf Province to the Asir region, southwest of Saudi Arabia. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the rich lives of bees, the three-part series allows for opportunities to study an observation hive and contemplate bees beyond their capacity for honeymaking, learn about traditional methods of beekeeping, engage in honey-tasting sessions from a wide spectrum of native flora, and finally, offer an introduction to urban beekeeping. Together, the series touches on topics ranging from historical and cultural encounters with bees to pollination and the importance of bees in maintaining ecosystems on a local and global level.
Hayy Field Guide
December 6, 2021, onwards
Part of Hayy Learning’s family-oriented initiatives, the Hayy Field Guide is a customisable journal designed for children and young adults to record their adventures at Hayy Jameel, whether they are visiting the exhibitions at Hayy Arts, watching films at Hayy Cinema, or participating in workshops at Hayy Studios. Through thought-provoking exercises, an interactive map and unique collectable stamps, the Hayy Field Guide invites young audiences to reflect on their experiences, turning every visit into a fun and didactic journey. Complementing Hayy Arts’ opening exhibition ‘Staple: What’s on your plate?’, Hayy Learning is also introducing an activity-packed learning kit which playfully narrates the exhibition for young learners.
Hayy Residents
January – February, 2021, onwards
Hayy Jameel’s opening season will see the first wave of homegrown partner tenants, Hayy Residents, move into the forthcoming creative complex, built to bring together the broadest range of creative disciplines in one destination. The Residents are like-minded pioneering enterprises from Saudi Arabia that have each shaped their respective fields, and join Hayy Jameel with renewed and compelling new concepts – from contemporary art and design to performance and culinary arts, through to publishing and design houses. The first Residents include: Athr, AlComedy Club, Al Mohtaraf, Aysh Academy, Homegrown and Riwaq Dahr. More spaces are expected to launch following Hayy Jameel’s opening season.
Hayy Cinema
March – April, 2022, onwards
The independent audio-visual centre includes a 165-seat theatre, a community screening room and a multimedia library and educational space. Imagined as a year-round home for the Saudi film community and local cine-enthusiasts, the cinema is designed by Jeddah-based architectural practice Bricklab and awarded through a highly competitive international design competition run by Art Jameel. The full Hayy Cinema programme will be announced in the coming months.
Sara Al-Omran, Deputy Director of Art Jameel, said: “The beating heart of Hayy Jameel is the people – from the artists, visitors of all ages and Hayy Residents, through to our own Art Jameel team. Hayy Jameel serves as a microcosm of a convivial community and this is reflected in the design and intent of the building with all activity centred around Saha, a sustainable community courtyard that doubles as space for creative interventions, screenings, performances, installations and markets.”
Additional Art Jameel-run spaces include Fenaa Hayy, a multi-purpose space for performances, workshops and talks, and Saha, the community courtyard, with landscaping rooted in concepts of sustainability and adaptability year-round, both serving as platforms for wider engagement with the community through hosting talks, performances and workshops.
*Hayy Jameel, located in Al Mohammadiyyah area, will be open to the public from December 6, 2021.
