Ahmed Mater

Born 1979 in Tabuk, lives and works in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Ahmed Mater is one of the most prominent artistic voices documenting and scrutinizing the realities of contemporary Saudi Arabia. His research-led practice explores collective memories to uncover and record unofficial histories through photography, film, sculpture, and installataion, exploring themes of tradition and innovation, heritage and globalization, faith, economics, and modernization. Solo exhibitions include King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia (2018); Brooklyn Museum, New York (2017); and Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (2016). He exhibited at the Guggenheim, New York (2016); Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris (2012); British Museum, London (2012, 2006); and Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2011), and participated in the Sharjah Biennial (2013, 2007); Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2012); Venice Biennale (2011, 2009); and Cairo Biennial (2008).

Magnetism

The literal meaning of the word Ka‘bah is ‘cube’ and in the context of Islam and Makkah al-Mukarramah, it refers to Bait Allah (The House of Allah) built by the Prophet Ibrahim and his son Isma‘il upon Allah’s instructions (Holy Qur’an 22:26–29). The simplicity of the Ka‘bah’s form powerfully expresses its fundamental significance. In this work, a magnetic black cuboid—as miniature as the Ka‘bah is monumental—is rotated, setting thousands of iron particles in motion, and creating a swirling halo that echoes the movement of pilgrims during Hajj.
The iron elements are set on a white base, allowing for a balance between the black square and white circle reflecting a dynamic attraction and rejection tension of the sort enunciated so powerfully in chapter Al-Rahman (55:19 and 20). While the swirling particles allude to forces much larger than ourselves, the Ka‘bah’s magnetic pull is evocative of the orbits of planets, or electrons, connecting the microcosmic and macrocosmic. In Mater’s words: “Through Magnetism, I suggest that the universe operates on a balance of opposing forces—light and dark, attraction and repulsion—all aligned under order. Like poetry, my work speaks to things vast and intimate, revealing the harmony woven into creation.”