(MENAFN- Arab Times) RIYADH Dec 24 (AFP): In highly conservative Saudi Arabia where most forms of entertainment are forbidden art has taken to the streets.Dozens of paintings are being displayed on outdoor advertising billboards in the capital Riyadh and other cities in what organisers say is the kingdom's first public art show.
'It is something new' said Mohammed al-Khereiji deputy chief executive of Al-Arabia Outdoor the advertising firm behind the exhibition.
It opened Monday night along Riyadh's glitzy Tahlia Street and runs until Saturday.
'For the first time art is presented to the public' although small indoor exhibitions have previously taken place in the kingdom he said.
Sculptures have also been displayed in the open including a permanent display along the corniche in the Red Sea city of Jeddah and the country has some small galleries.
With about 3400 billboards showing 80 paintings by Saudi artists Khereiji called it 'the biggest art gallery in the Middle East'.
Normally on Tahlia Street the only things on show are flashy cars cruising past the boulevard's wide sidewalks outdoor cafes and high-end restaurants serving Western cuisine.
The kingdom which practises a conservative Salafist version of Islam bans alcohol even in luxury hotels does not allow cinemas or theatres and strictly separates the sexes.
'The culture and the society do not encourage artists and it is difficult to be an artist in this society' said Majed Saud al-Mefareh in front of a billboard featuring his painting 'Story'.
It is a patchwork of abstract figures and images depicting Saudi life and traditions.
Mefareh 38 who holds a regular job in administration said he has been a part-time painter for about two decades because he enjoys his hobby and knows that 'some people in our society like it' too.
Appreciate
The inaugural exhibition should help more Saudis to appreciate the visual arts he said.
Sultan al-Adwani a curious onlooker who works at the interior ministry said the outdoor gallery seemed like a good idea.
'It's better than inside the building' he said in the chilly evening air as waiters served glasses of juice to invited guests outside a French restaurant.
The paintings were chosen after a call for submissions drew 3200 entries.
Most of the colourful works are in an abstract style some reminiscent of early-20th century Cubism made famous by Picasso.
They include a variety of subjects including urban and rural landscapes sports Islam's holiest site the Kaaba a stylised camel and a couple in traditional dress sitting on chairs together at the seaside.
The strict Wahhabi version of Islam forbids paintings of the human form but several works in the exhibition clearly depict people many of them women.
Figure
One painting shows a green female figure hands on hips and head held high emerging from a cactus in a desert landscape.
It is a powerful image in a country that does not allow women to drive and where they cover themselves in black from head to toe outside the home.
Ahlam Nassir al-Harbi 23 said women are also a minority among the country's artists making up perhaps 10 or 20 percent of painters.
An art student at Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University for women she said 'it feels lovely' to have one of her paintings exhibited outside.
The work shows two female forms alongside traditional Bedouin designs.
Harbi only her eyes visible under a black abaya robe agreed the outdoor show would help elevate the low level of interest in art among the Saudi public.
It did not however generate much attention from the country's religious police tasked with cracking down on perceived moral violations.
'The Islamic police passed by' Khereiji said and they had no problem with the exhibition.
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PARIS: A sculpture by US pop artist Jeff Koons has been pulled from a retrospective of his work at the Centre Pompidou in Paris after he was accused of ripping off a French clothing advert the museum said Tuesday.
Entitled 'Fait d'Hiver' a play on the French term for a short news item 'fait divers' the sculpture resembles a 1985 advertising campaign of the same name for French clothing brand Naf-Naf.
The Naf-Naf campaign showed a young girl lying in snow apparently the victim of an avalanche being nosed by a with a barrel of rum under its neck in reference to the famous Saint Bernard rescue dogs.
Koons's porcelain artwork shows a similar looking woman being approached by a beast with a barrel under its neck.
Franck Davidovici the creator of the campaign accused Koons of stealing his idea.
The president of the Pompidou Centre Alain Seban defended the artist however noting that 'similar questions' had already been raised in the United States about other works from Koons's Banality sculpture series 'the very principle of which is to draw on objects bought in shops or images seen in the press'.
Essential
'It is essential that museums be able to continue to give an account of these artistic endeavours' he said in a statement which emphasised that the contentious piece had been withdrawn 'at the request of the lender'.
A bailiff was called to the Pompidou Centre last month to photograph Koons's creation and compare it with the Naf-Naf ad.
The sculpture which was sold at Christie's auction house in New York for about 3.0 million euros (3.7 million dollars) in 2007 is one of four copies of the artwork.
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