The Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art in Diriyah opened a new exhibition on Thursday titled "Cities Under Quarantine: The Mailbox Project," which runs through September 28. Organized by the Museums Commission, the exhibition showcases unique artist books created by Arab artists during the COVID-19 pandemic that capture the profound global isolation experienced during the spring of 2020.
The exhibition features intimate testimonies that blend art, writing, and personal reflections from a pivotal moment in recent history. Visitors can explore how the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic unsettled the world and fundamentally redefined human connection. These deeply personal works demonstrate how artists reimagined places, desires, and silences during lockdown, transforming solitude into a meaningful space for reflection.
The project originated from an innovative initiative by Abed Al-Kadiri, who distributed 57 handmade books to Arab artists around the world. Al-Kadiri invited these artists to respond creatively to the reality of lockdown and quarantine restrictions. The responses became profoundly personal artistic works that offer unique perspectives on life during the pandemic.
Saudi Arabia serves as the exhibition's third international stop, following previous presentations at Villa Romana in Florence and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha. The traveling exhibition explores the concept of life in suspension during the pandemic, examining how confinement reshaped human relationships and created unexpected opportunities for self-discovery and introspection.
As part of the exhibition's programming, two panel discussions were held on Saturday, focusing on "The Visual Traces of the Self: Between the Hands and the Eyes" and "Printmaking and the Artists Book." Additionally, on September 6, the museum's atrium will host a live performance titled "Today, I Would Like to Be," which will invite the public to actively participate in creating an artist book, allowing visitors to engage directly with the exhibition's central themes of creativity and connection during isolation.
