Christopher Beanlands visits Saudi Arabia, to Investigate the Diriyah Islamic Arts Biennale and the art and design scene in Oman, UAE and Jordan
Before me a row of oil barrels sit under a huge white elevated umbrella structure protecting me from the fierce desert heat. I’d wanted to visit Saudi Arabia since the Kingdom started reforming: granting rights to women and visas to tourists, but I wasn’t quite sure what I might find.
Jeddah
It seems appropriate that my first taste of Saudi Arabia is this art installation inspired by the country’s wealth tap: the black gold that has enabled it to stand on the international scene and invest in culture, like this: the Diriyah Islamic Arts Biennale, developed by a female-led team and with largely female guides, it is a political as well as an artistic point. Artists from around the Islamic world have been invited to make art that makes a point and the variety is eye-opening. Fatma Abdulhadi, Bilal Allaf, Nasser Alzayani, and Ahmad Angawi are just some of the artists involved. There’s work from Uzbekistan, Lebanon, North Africa and around the Gulf too.
As well as contemporary art the history of Gulf design is explored: maps, furniture, paintings. And the piece de resistance: the holy shrouds that covered the Kabaa in Mecca are displayed in all their glory.
The exhibition runs until May 25 and then will return in a different form in 2027. It sits under the vast sweeping roof of the Hajj Terminal – which is itself an incredible attraction. This Skidmore, Owings and Merill masterwork from the 1980s was designed as a huge flexible space for pilgrims to transfer between the planes that brought them to the airport at Jeddah – one of the world’s largest – and the buses that would take them on to Mecca and other sacred sites. The use of the terminal as the home of the Biennale is truly inspired – with pavilions and breezy gardens sitting under the white roof.
Jeddah’s modern cityscape seems almost American with its wide roads, US fast food joints and low-rise glossy buildings. The city also has an array of interesting public art started by an art loving mayor several decades ago, including much art placed on roundabouts throughout the city like the sculpture of many crashed cars.
The new Jeddah Airport Terminal that partially replaced the Hajj Terminal is a swooping, golden affair with no expense spared and feels like the kind of public building Europe and the US can no longer afford. The fancy lounges are filled with dates and coffee and it’s all rather lavish.
Muscat
The next stop is Muscat. No surprise that it too has a shiny new airport terminal that proves an impressive welcome to all visitors. On the drive from the airport I spy new mosques, new apartments and plenty of history. The city has successfully preserved its beautiful old town, lighthouses, city gates and parks. The brutalist bulk of the Intercontinental Hotel is what drew me here. This 1974 work by Lebanese architect Pierre el-Khoury is a misunderstood masterwork.
Muscat’s first major modernist international hotel was built at a time when few would dream of holidaying here and instead Western oil workers and diplomats were the target market. But it started a new vacation trend that caught on and today Oman is a key destination for those who want a more authentic and historic Gulf destination.
The Intercontinental is a bulky concrete beast from the outside. But inside its huge John Portman-esque lobby is alive with lifts darting up and down and people gathering in cafes to chat. Outside crabs scuttle on the beach and well-heeled businessmen play padel.
Lots of original 1970s design touches and art remain in the hotel and it’s a rather natty time capsule of that cigarette-smoking age. Oman is intriguing. I enjoy looking at the designs of all the petrol stations as I pass through the Sultanate. Each gallon is cheaper than the last and each is pumped by friendly guys from Sri Lanka, India and Nepal who are always happy to wash your windscreen and talk about cricket with a fellow fan.
Muscat’s People & Place Museum is a small but interesting combination of a museum of them home with Arabian home interiors celebrated – and a museum of modern art.
On a ridge above Al Riyam Park is the unmistakable sight of the Frankinscence Burner Sculpture. For those of a certain age the giant TVAM egg cups that graced the breakfast TV company’s studios in London’s Camden might come to mind – this huge white sculpture of an incense burner towers over the Muscat skyline – a pleasingly odd mix of modern and ancient.
UAE
I head to the United Arab Emirates next. Abu Dhabi is home to another splendid Intercontinental Hotel overlooking its harbour. The city state has embraced art and its Louvre has quickly become world famous. Inside the Jean Nouvel-designed museum is a gargantuan collection of art that would take a week to enjoy in full. The building is built to a high spec that again would make Europeans baulk.
I wasn’t expecting to write about theme parks in this story but you can’t ignore them in Abu Dhabi. The whole of Yas Island is like a giant theme park and the UAE seems very fond of these family-friendly entertainment venues. Yet architects have had their hand in them. The Ferrari World rides and buildings are especially eye-catching
My journey to Dubai feels strange, traversing desert and not knowing where one state ends and another begins. This is the new capital of the Middle East and of the Gulf. A huge megalopolis that has sucked in citizens from across the globe. Dubai’s thing used to be ‘money’ I guess but now it is trying to be more subtle. It is investing in art and design. The D3 – Dubai Design District – showcases young designers, studios and stores, workplaces and exhibitions.
Art Dubai pushes the art world front and centre. And everywhere you drive you see architecture which is ambitious if not always quite as impressive. The huge towers, the Frame – which looks like a picture frame, the newbuild communities. Dubai has got in on the street food craze, the boxpark craze, the pop up shopping craze. It’s a mind-blowing mixture.
I stop at the Museum of The Future – it’s an arresting sight next to the main highway through the city, looking like a fat ring with a hole through its centre. Dubai’s Killa Design came up with this building free from internal pillars, clad in silver, and which predicts what life in the future will look like.
No visit to Dubai could bypass the Burj Al Arab. This landmark tower on the seashore from 1999 is designed to look like a sail and features a helipad on top – it kickstarted Dubai’s shape-shift into luxury tourism destination.
The Arte Museum in Dubai is designed for those who enjoy Teamlab’s offerings in Tokyo or the immersive Monet shows that tour the world. In collaboration with Paris’ legendary Musee D’Orsay, the museum brings the old masters to life in a blaze of son et lumiere drama, and it’s especially suited for getting kids who would otherwise deride paintings as boring into proper art.
I make my way to Four Seasons Jumeirah Beach, a hotel where opulence comes as standard. This is one of the most glamorous hotels I have ever stayed in and each design touch seems more well thought out than the last. The rooms come with luxurious furniture and machines for making your life easier. The pool deck is designed for perfect relaxation. And in the lobby and public areas art and sculpture sets off the plush feeling. Jou Jou Brasserie is sophisticated, its outdoor dining terrace the perfectly calm place to enjoy roast chicken with baby vegetables and a sparkling water at sundown.
Jordan
Next is Jordan. It is Amman that maybe holds the most surprises. This huge city is – like Dubai – a financial and business centre, a haven of peace in a region that is often not replete with much of that. From the first taste of the city at Queen Alia Airport, designed by Norman Foster, the feeling of Amman is intriguing. The open and modern airport contains a beautifully designed lounge where you can see everything happening on the concourse below as wood fired pizza is freshly baked and served up to you.
In the city I explore the old Parliament with its British colonial inspiration and walk to the ancient site of the Roman Amphitheatre and climb the hill to the Roman Temple Ruins that overlook the Old City. It truly feels like a city that has been here for thousands of years with all that history, just as some Gulf cities feel so much younger. But Amman has its newer buildings and interesting stores and museums too.
The Jabal al-Weibdeh neighbourhood is home to wall murals and street art as well as independent cafes that design fans will relish. The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts is the place to come meanwhile for seeing more renowned works of art from the Middle East and beyond. Ahed Younis and Ahmad Shawish are some of those in the permanent collection here. The extension of the building received the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. As a brutalism fan I could not miss the 100 metre tall drum-shaped Al-Burj, a brutalist office building from the early 1980s that has become something of a city landmark.
The Four Seasons Amman is a new building and its interiors have a timeless classiness to them. Richmond International’s crisp interior design in a building by Page & Steele are impressive. Richmond renovated the hotel in 2021, refreshing the original ideas deployed 20 years before that. Warm autumn accents and neutral tones calm the weary traveller. The XAYA lobby centerpiece is an eye-opening highlight. From here travellers can journey out to see the architectural and archaeological highlights of ancient Jordan like Petra.
Images (C) Cedric Ribeiro, Marco Cappellett
Tell Me More About Art and Design in The Middle East.
Chris flew to Jeddah and Dubai with Pegasus Airlines who offer daily return flights from London Stansted to Dubai and Jeddah (and Abu Dhabi and Muscat) via Istanbul from £120
Travelling between Middle East cities is possible flying Wizz Air, Royal Jordanian, Emirates and Saudia. Driving is also possible. Abu Dhabi to Dubai is a coach link.
For more information please visit the Diriyah Islamic Arts Biennale
Runs until May 25 and then again in 2027
Where to stay
Four Seasons Jumeirah Beach Dubai Room
Rates per night from £400 low season
Rates from £225
Rates from £103
