Salt-Kissed Exhibition Explores Red Sea Histories at Hayy Jameel

Kicking off in May 2024 at Hayy Jameel in Jeddah, the exhibition titled Salt-Kissed uses eight ships to delve into the Red Sea's vibrant relationship with its environment. Curated by Ahmed Al-Aqra and Yara Shabaneh via Art Jameel's Curatorial Open Call, this showcase fuses archival material with contemporary pieces to explore themes like historical and modern trade routes, coastal communities, traditional crafts, colonial influences, and ecological challenges. Artists in the spotlight include Monira AlQadiri, Ruba Al-Sweel, Suhaib Ayoub, and several others. Al-Aqra is a Palestinian curator and artist known for co-founding FANA' Collective, while Shabaneh is an architect and author with notable works like Making of a Place and Heaps of Metal. The exhibition portrays the Red Sea as a dynamic entity that shapes and safeguards the items it encounters.