Maha Mulla will participate to the 57^th Venice Biennale
Venice, May-Nov 2017

Maha Mulla, a saudi artistis born in the traditional region of Najd, has been invited to participate to the 57th Venice Biennale. She will be presenting her latest installation from her acclaimed ‘Food for Thought’ series composed of audio tapes and wood bread-baking trays.
The work of Maha Malluh pays homage to her home country: ʻ a land of contrasting images and ideas’ she said. Malluh works with the concept of representation and how our belongings define us. Her work is an insightful amalgamation, which discusses the importance of heritage, balance and growth.

A short film " Departure" tackling extremism won the Gold Palm at the 4^th Saudi Film Festival
Dhahran, March 27-1 April 2017

“Departures”, directed by Abdulaziz al-Shalahei, won the golden palm award at the Fourth edition of the Festival, which featured 58 homegrown films including 12 directed by women. The filmmaker Al-Shalahei, the winner of the gold palm award, said to an interview to Al Arabiya’s " this film marks a national transformation in the fourth edition of the Saudi Film Festival". The film was made by a group of young people from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. We wanted to tackle the issue of extremism and its effects on our society.”

The festival was held in a large marquee in Dhahran, in Eastern Province, as public cinemas do not exist in Saudi Arabia. The festival is one part of the Kingdom’s long-reaching strategy to transform entertainment options in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi film industry has been the recipient of increased attention since the release of Saudi Vision 2030, which will reinvigorate the Kingdom’s cultural sphere. With a boost in investment within the cultural sector, Saudi officials seek to attract the finest local and international talent to lead this movement. Other events on offer for Saudi spectators have been the New York theatrical group iLuminate, the Comic-Con pop culture festival, and WWE wrestling.

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