Crystal Magazine Jan 08, 2026
“Sixty Icons” Exhibition by Saudi Contemporary Artist Fatimah Mohiuddin
By: Dr. Maha Gamal
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In Sixty Icons, Fatimah Mohiuddin does not present images, but rather extracts memory from the everyday, and questions from the familiar.
Saudi symbols are transformed into a contemporary visual language that stands between documentation and interpretation.
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■ Your works rely heavily on everyday symbols. Is this documentation or critique?
Fatimah:
It begins with documentation… but it does not stop there. I do not restore things as they were; I reshape them in a contemporary way through my own perspective as an artist.
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■ Local art is sometimes accused of beautifying identity rather than questioning it. Where do you stand?
Fatimah:
If the viewer leaves only saying, “It’s beautiful because it’s Saudi,” then I have not succeeded.
For me, identity is not something to be copied. I liberate it from fixed frames and present it anew without stripping it of its authenticity.
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■ Text appears strongly in your works. Do you fear it becoming merely decorative?
Fatimah:
I deliberately want it to be seen before it is read.
Art that is consumed at first glance does not interest me.
My aim is to create an element of surprise from the very first moment.
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■ What was the most impactful reaction you received?
Fatimah:
Visitors said: “The works are unconventional… non-traditional… we’ve never seen anything like this.”
That is exactly what I want.
For my mark to be distinctive, and my vision singular within the scene.
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■ How do you see the role of Saudi art today?
Fatimah:
If it only celebrates itself, it will stop.
Art must step out of its closed circle and collide with the human being… and with questions that have no answers.
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■ What do you want to disappear from people’s readings of your work? And what should remain?
Fatimah:
I want superficial reading to disappear.
And I want the feeling to remain that these works are about them… not only about the past.
These are the stories of a homeland, our identity, and our living wealth.
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Sixty Icons is not an exhibition about objects…
but about our relationship with them.
About a homeland rediscovered when seen through the eyes of art.
