NOUF ALHIMIARY is a Saudi Arabian artist who created the above work, which is untitled. The piece, a photograph from the artist’s “The Desire Not to Exist” series, is part of a new exhibit featuring work by Saudi Arabian artists currently on view at Bates Museum of Art.

“Phantom Punch: Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia in Lewiston” is the first exhibition in New England of work by Saudi artists. The artists featured in Phantom Punch use an exciting variety of media–calligraphy, painting, sculpture, photography, video, performance, animation, and comedy–to explore topics and issues that are shape the lives of Saudis throughout the Kingdom. These include the role of women and the place of foreign workers in Saudi society, the impact of oil on the Saudi economy, the relationship between American popular culture and traditional Saudi values, the impact of militarism and terrorism on everyday Saudi life, the effect of urbanization, globalization, and commercialization on Saudi cities, the limits of censorship and intolerance on freedom of expression in the arts, the conflicts and tensions that divide Saudi society, and the power of conservative Saudi Islam to shape the spiritual understanding Saudis have of the relationship between the human and the divine. The exhibition will be accompanied by a substantial catalogue with essays by the curators.

Other artists featured in the show include Sarah Abu Abdallah, Ahaad Alamoudi, Njoud Alanbari, Arwa Neami, Ahmad Angawi, Huda Beydoun, Ayman Yossri Daydban, Abdulnasser Gharem, Ajlan Gharem, Musaed Al Hulis, Ahmed Mater, Nasser Al Salem, Rashed Al Shashai, Shaweesh, the Youtube animation series Masameer, and the multi-channel network Telfaz11.

For more information on this show or others, visit bates.edu/museum.

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