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MAKKAH: Saudi visual artist Bdour Al-Maliki has emerged as a distinct voice in the local art scene, transforming her personal pain and lived experience into colorful works. 

Al-Maliki’s childhood was shaped by her artist father, who nurtured her visual awareness from an early age.

“My father being an artist had a profound impact on my early years,” she said. “I would watch him paint with passion, handling colors and tools with love. That instilled in me the understanding that painting isn’t just a hobby, it’s a form of expression and a way of life.”

Her father did not impose art on her, she stressed. Rather, his inspiring presence made her turn to it naturally, as if it were part of her identity: “Even now, I feel that every painting I work on carries a part of his artistic spirit,” she said. 

I draw inspiration from the environment, the stories, and the feelings we experience, and I try to express them in my own way. My art carries the spirit of the place to which I belong.

Bdour Al-Maliki, Saudi visual artist

Painting evolved from being a childhood companion for Al-Maliki into a lifelong pursuit.

“The first time I realized that painting wasn’t just a hobby was when I saw how my paintings touched people’s emotions,” she said. “From that moment, I knew it was my passion and the way I expressed myself.” 

Al-Maliki believes art holds a profound power to touch the soul, which in turn fuels her sense of responsibility to the work she creates. She explained that she tends toward exploring sad and painful topics, especially human stories that “shake people’s hearts.” She believes that such emotions carry an energy that deserves to be conveyed to people through art.

Al-Maliki explained that she does not follow a specific artistic school, but strives to create her own style in each painting — a style that serves the story’s emotions and conveys the feeling in its most authentic form, even if it changes from one work to the next. “Expression is more important than adherence to any one artistic school,” she said. “My Saudi identity is present in my feelings above all else. I draw inspiration from the environment, the stories, and the feelings we experienced, and I try to express them in my own way. My art carries the spirit of the place to which I belong.” 

Al-Maliki spoke optimistically about the state of the Saudi art scene, noting that it is witnessing an unprecedented boom thanks to Saudi Vision 2030’s initiatives for culture and the arts, which has provided artists with greater opportunities to fulfill their potential. When Al-Maliki was starting out — before such initiatives were in place — she felt there was a notable lack of support for artists.

But she transformed those challenges— as well as personal ones including her divorce — into fuel for her creativity, viewing every painting she completes as a victory over adversity. 

Al-Maliki is currently preparing for an international exhibition of works the she explained reflect her identity and stories.

“My next ambition is for the world to hear my voice through my art,” she said. “Art is my voice and my homeland.”

DUBAI: Palestinian artist Salma Dib is among six creatives featured in “No Trespassing,” the summer exhibition at Dubai’s Ishara Art Foundation. 

Running until Aug. 30, the show brings the raw energy of street art into a gallery space, inviting artists to explore physical, political and personal boundaries through their work.

“It’s very exciting for me,” Dib told Arab News. “I’ve always enjoyed Ishara’s programming and the way they completely transformed the space each time. This show is extra special for me as an artist because I got to be part of this transformation alongside all the other great artists in the show working inside the space the whole time.”

Dib created a large-scale, distressed wall installation layered with paint, Arabic text and marks that resemble remnants of protest posters. 

“My work comes from observing how people reclaim or protect their place, their voices and their right to self-expression, especially in places under political tension,” she explained. “The walls I create are covered in posters, graffiti and writing that demand to be seen.”

Her walls are built from worn materials, archival posters and layers of graffiti-like marks. “I always stress I’m not trying to emulate the streets, but borrowing from its energy and delivering the urgency, the messiness and the fear that comes from needing your voice to be heard amid the chaos.”

Dib’s process is driven by both improvization and political memory. “I was born in what to this day is still considered a refugee camp,” she said. “Making art became my way of holding onto those fragments, of piecing together something that felt like home.”

Ultimately, she hopes visitors leave with one message: “To understand that every mark is part of an ongoing conversation … that carries the voices of a community that insists on existing and being heard.”