{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Popular Saudi artist launches his first major exhibition outside the Middle East' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c348d8eafeecae1601f3' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c348d8eafeecae1601f3' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nPopular Saudi artist launches his first major exhibition outside the Middle East\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eMeet artist Abdulnasser Gharem, he's been dubbed the Damien Hirst of the Saudi Arabian art world. His artwork and installations include giant sized stamps to a parody of the bureaucracy in Saudi Arabia, as well as a performance called...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eMeet artist Abdulnasser Gharem, he's been dubbed the Damien Hirst of the Saudi Arabian art world. \u003cbr/\u003eHis artwork and installations include giant sized stamps to a parody of the bureaucracy in Saudi Arabia, as well as a performance called \"Flora Fauna\" (2007) which involved Gharem wrapping himself and a tree in plastic, in the middle of a street in Abha. \u003cbr/\u003eNow Gharem is bringing his works to the U.K. for the first time, in an exhibition which is in conjunction with Edge of Arabia, an organization which Gharem is co-founder of. \u003cbr/\u003eBut it has taken time, and Gharem says when he was younger, growing up being an artist wasn't an option. \u003cbr/\u003eThe lack of facilities, galleries and general stigma attached to being an artist meant Gharem had to find an alternative career to help support him and his family, so he chose a career in the Saudi army instead, where he served as a lieutenant colonel.\u003cbr/\u003eIt took a while for his army peers to accept his art career, but now Gharem says they are supportive.\u003cbr/\u003eGharem's work will go on display in  London at the Edge of Arabia. The artist realizes the importance of showing in the U.K. \u003cbr/\u003e\"As you know London is very important city especially if you want to say something globally I think that's the best environment where you can come and just show the people and these people, the audience would become the middle between the artist and just take the messages and feedback and comments and start spreading them all over the world. So it's something important to me as an artist.\"\u003cbr/\u003eOne of Gharem's iconic piece on show is a giant replica of a rubber stamp.\u003cbr/\u003e\"I think the stamp is a symbol of bureaucracy, which I think the Middle East are suffering from this bureaucracy, and it's delaying our future, and delaying our dreams, and postponing our goals through this bureaucracy and through these routines. I think everyone of us is involved, I'm talking about me and my society, and the government. Everyone of us are involved in this issue so it's nice to employ these things through the artwork, so the artwork can become a kind of platform where the people start to negotiate their own issues and as I told you when I saw these artworks in London or Berlin, the people even there they think they are involved because they start to complain also of the same problem. So I think it's a global issue.\"\u003cbr/\u003eWith government crackdown on media coverage and access at times of political conflict in the Middle East, Gharem says art can play it's part when it comes to spreading political messages.\u003cbr/\u003e\"I think through the artwork you can say many things you can't say through the newspaper, through the official TV channels or whatever it is because you can find a way where you can escape or where you can hide your message. On some of the artwork it takes a while until the people realize what I mean through that artwork and sometimes the conclusion of the let's say the collective and conscious mind of the people they will come up with something after a while. I think that art is a great medium where you can tell the messages and affect the people's lives and you can do a lot of change through the art, than a newspaper or an article.\"\u003cbr/\u003eTogether with the Edge of Arabia, Gharem has been trying to help develop the art scene in Saudi Arabia. He's even donated proceeds from the auction of his own works to the cause to help develop struggling artists. \u003cbr/\u003e\"The most important thing for me is producing artwork which will change my society or help them, or at least which will spark them to start a talk or to do some actions, to develop their lives and their environment and everything. \"\u003cbr/\u003eAbdulnasser Gharem's artwork is on display at the Edge of Arabia, 40 Elcho Street, London until 8 November.\u003cbr/\u003eAP Entertainment\u003cbr/\u003eLondon, 9 October \u003cbr/\u003e1. Wide of artwork\u003cbr/\u003e2. Wide of artwork\u003cbr/\u003e3. Wide of artist Abdulnasser Gharem looking at artwork \u003cbr/\u003e4. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdulnasser Gharem, artist, on showing in London:\u003cbr/\u003e\"As you know London is a very important city, especially if you want to say something globally, I think that's the best environment where you can come and just show the people and these people, the audience would become the middle between the artist and just take the messages and feedback and comments and start spreading them all over the world. So it's something important to me as an artist.\"\u003cbr/\u003e5. Wide of stamp artwork\u003cbr/\u003e6. Wide of stamp artwork\u003cbr/\u003e7. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdulnasser Gharem, artist, on his stamp artwork:\u003cbr/\u003e\"I think the stamp is a symbol of bureaucracy, which I think the Middle East are suffering from this bureaucracy, and it's delaying our future, and delaying our dreams, and postponing our goals through this bureaucracy and through these routines. I think everyone of us is involved, I'm talking about me and my society, and the government. Everyone of us are involved in this issue so it's nice to employ these things through the artwork, so the artwork can become a kind of platform where the people start to negotiate their own issues. As I told you when I saw these artworks in London or Berlin, the people even there they think they are involved because they start to complain also of the same problem. So I think it's a global issue.\"\u003cbr/\u003e8. Wide of artwork\u003cbr/\u003e9. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdulnasser Gharem, artist, on the Arab Spring and how art can play a part:\u003cbr/\u003e\"The image was playing a big role in that Arab Spring, even the whole society start to photograph what's happening around them and start upload it so that others will see the real thing. I think the whole society becomes a civilian journalist, they want to let the people know what is happening on the ground. What the reality is, so the art was playing a great role in this revolution. If many artists in Syria and Egypt, they get killed because of what they were doing, there are many caricatures, who are doing the caricatures they were killed because they were doing some artwork related or against the regime so, I think art was playing a good role in that I think.\"\u003cbr/\u003e10. Wide of artwork on display on the wall \u003cbr/\u003e11. Close tilt up of some artwork\u003cbr/\u003e12. Close of artwork\u003cbr/\u003e13. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdulnasser Gharem, artist, on whether it's easier to be political with art rather than other mediums:\u003cbr/\u003e\"I think through the artwork you can say many things you can't say through the newspaper, through the official TV channels or whatever it is because you can find a way where you can escape or where you can hide your message. On some of the artwork it takes a while until the people realize what I mean through that artwork and sometimes the conclusion of the let's say the collective and conscious mind of the people they will come up with something after a while. I think that art is a great medium where you can tell the messages and affect the people's lives and you can do a lot of change through the art, than a newspaper or an article. \"\u003cbr/\u003e14. Mid of art display \u003cbr/\u003e15. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdulnasser Gharem, artist, on being compared to Damien Hirst:\u003cbr/\u003e\"When I'm doing my artwork I'm not focusing on this area, I'm trying to produce real artwork from my roots, from all of us, each one of us has their own differences but I'm sure my differences are not controlling me, as I said what the most important thing for me is producing artwork which will change my society or help them, or at least which will spark them to start a talk or to do some actions, to develop their lives and their environment and everything. \"\u003cbr/\u003e16. 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