Muhannad Shono: Imagination as Resistance in Saudi Arabia's Cultural Shift

Riyadh-based artist Muhannad Shono has emerged as a key figure in Saudi Arabia's rapidly evolving art scene, participating in major events including the inaugural Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, Noor Riyadh, BIENALSUR in Jeddah, Desert X AlUla, and an AlUla Art Residency. His large-scale installations, such as The Mind Ship Exodus at Noor Riyadh—a warehouse filled with shredded steel wires and red projections—and The Last Path at Desert X AlUla—a twisting sculpture of 65,000 recyclable PVC pipes—challenge rigid narratives and encourage imaginative reinterpretation. Shono's work draws on mythology, social teachings, and cultural narratives, referencing texts like The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible's Old Testament. He explores themes of censorship, noting that growing up in Saudi Arabia, comic books often had pages torn or inked out, which he now sees as a collaboration that enriched his imagination. His recent AlUla residency project, On This Sacred Day, uses sand-cast brick segments and burnt palm leaves to comment on life cycles and renewal. For the Diriyah Biennale, he created On Losing Meaning, a sculptural robot that marks the floor with black pigment while searching for meaning. Shono reflects on Saudi Arabia's cultural awakening, stating that artists are now celebrated after a time when being an artist was risky, and emphasizes the need for the scene to become self-reliant. This profile was published in Canvas 101: We Need to Talk.