Manal AlDowayan

Manal AlDowayan is a Saudi artist, living and working in Dubai, UAE and Dahran, Saudi Arabia. Born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in 1973.
Few artists understand metamorphosis as keenly as Saudi artist Manal Al Dowayan. Long invested in interrogating the gender-biased customs that impact the condition of women in Saudi Arabia, Al Dowayan is a sensitive yet critical witness to the cultural metamorphosis engulfing the Kingdom.
Her practice, formally speaking, regularly shifts and evolves—from the assertive black and white photographic portraits of highly skilled working women in her early I Am series (2005), the research-driven Crash (2014) documenting media silence on fatal road accidents involving commuting women schoolteachers. Equally recognized for her work in sound, neon, and sculpture, Al Dowayan is perhaps best known for the participatory installations Suspended Together (2011) and Esmi-My Name (2012), the result of workshops offering channels for thousands of women in the Kingdom to address unjust social customs.
Al Dowayan’s practice navigates a territory where the personal and the political overlap. Her works spring from lived experiences—these intimate encounters with social injustice, the pangs of memory and forgetting. Yet her pieces are consistently galvanizing, sparking identification and engagement, particularly among women around the world. Her voice is strong, and it resonates.
Unsurprisingly, the artist’s gaze unravels the expected tensions running through the fiber of Saudi society—public vs private, traditional vs modern, community vs. world. But as the Kingdom races towards further change, Al Dowayan’s artistic engagement with this new metamorphosis promises to be bolder and more incisive than ever.
In 2014 she was a recipient of a research Fellowship from NYU AD and was invited in early 2015 to the Robert Rauschenberg Residency in Captiva, Florida. Manal has shown her work in Prospect 3 New Orleans - The American Biennale (2014/15), in collateral shows at the Venice Biennale (2009/11), and at Museums around the world like Gawngju Museum in South Korea, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, The Victoria and Albert Museum in UK, and Mathaf Museum of Modern Arab Art in Qatar. Her art works are part of public collection at the British Museum, LA County Museum, Louisiana Museum, and Mathaf.


Education
2003
MSC. Information Systems Analysis and Design. London Metropolitan University. London, UK.
1999
BSBA. Computer Information Systems. Suffolk University. Boston, USA.

Solo shows
2024
Shifting Sands: A Battle Song. Saudi Arabia Pavilion. 60th Biennale di Venezia. Venice, Italy.
2024
Their Love Is Like All loves, Their Death Is Like All Deaths. Sabrina Amrani. AlUla, KSA.
2024
Oasis of Stories. Wadi AlFann. AlUla, KSA.
2023
Manal AlDowayan: Participatory Acts. Misk Art Institute. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2023
Their Love Is Like All Loves, Their Death Is Like All Deaths. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2022
Songs from the Shore. Setouchi Triennale. Ibukijima Island, Japan.
2021
Eternal Return of the Same. Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde. Dubai, UAE.
2021
Eternal Return of the Same. Cromwell Place. London, UK.
2019
The Nobel Museum Comission. The Nobel Museum. Stockholm, Sweden.
2019
Watch Before You Fall. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Madrid, Spain.
2019
What Is And What Has Been. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Madrid, Spain.
2018
Suspended Together. British Museum. London, UK.
2018
Suspended Together. The Aga Khan Museum. Toronto, Canada.
2018
You are from Me and I am from You- Public Comission. Abu Dhabi, UAE.
2017
Letters. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2017
100 Masterpieces of Modern and Contemporary Arab Art. Paris, France.
2017
Bayn (In Between) UAE Art Unlimited. Abu Dhabi, UAE.
2017
I am here. Rojas + Rubensteen Projects. Miami, USA.
2017
Safar- 21,39 Jeddah Arts 4th Edition. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2017
And I, will I forget? Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Madrid, Spain.
2016
And I, will I forget? NYU. New York City, USA.
2015
I had no wings. Alsekal Avenue. Dubai, UAE.
2014
Crash. MATHAF Arab Museum of Modern Art. Doha, Qatar.
2014
Crash. Cuadro Fine Art Gallery. Dubai, UAE.
2013
Journey of Belonging. Athr Gallery. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2013
The State of Disappereance.Cuadro Fine Art Gallery. Dubai, UAE.
2012
Esmi (My Name).Cuadro Fine Art Gallery. Dubai, UAE.
2012
If I forget You Don't Forget Me.Cuadro Fine Art Gallery. Dubai, UAE.
2012
The Samawi Collection II. Ayyam Gallery. Dubai, UAE.
2012
The Samawi Collection II.Katara Galleries. Doha, Qatar.
2010
And We Were Speaking Through Silence. Sultan Gallery. Kuwait City, Kuwait.
2010
And We Had No Shared Dreams. Dubai, UAE.
2009
Bastakia during Dubai Art Fair. Dubai, UAE.
2009
Landscapes of the Mind. Dubai, UAE.

Group shows
2024
Y SI MADRID FUERA MI CASA. Sabrina Amrani. Curated by Joël Andrianomearisoa. Madrid, Spain.
2024
Breaking the monument. Casall Solleric. Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
2024
Matters Through Matter. Balad Al Fann Festival. Comisariado por Jumana Gouth. Jeddah, KSA.
2023
Signos na Paisagem. BIENALSUR. Centro Cultura Banco do Brasil. Comisariado por Diana Wechsler. Brasilia, Braazil.
2023
Team Work. 30 years of CGAC. CGAC, Centro Galego de Arte Contemporáneo. Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
2023
Being and belonging: Contemporary women artists from the islamic world and beyond. Royal Ontario Museum. Ontario, Canada.
2023
Woven spaces. Fenaa Alawwal. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2023
Women defining women in contemporary art of the middle east and beyond. LACMA. Los Angeles, USA.
2023
The Future of Traditions. Writing pictures: Contemporary Art From the Middle East. Brunei Gallery, University of London. London, UK.
2022
ICON. ICONIC. Art Here 2022. Richard Mille Art Prize. Louvre Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi, UAE.
2022
History in Fragments. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2022
AMAKIN, 9th Edition. SAC. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2022
The Time is right. Jeddah Photo 2022. Athr Gallery. Curated by Zelda Cheatle. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2022
What Lies Within. Maraya Hall. Curated by Lulwah AlHomoud. AlUla, Saudi Arabia.
2022
Portrait of a Nation II: Beyond Narratives. Commissioned by ADMAF. Manarat Al Saadiyat. Abu Dhabi, UAE.
2021
Illuminate: A Noor Riyadh Capsule. Noor Riyadh festival. Hayy Jameel. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2021
Long Story Short. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2021
Ad Diriyah Biennale. KSA. Curated by Philip Tenari.
2021
Taehawa River Eco Festival (TEAF). South Korea.
2021
The Northern Alps Festivals. Omachi- Japan.
2021
Here, Now. Misk Institute. Prince Faisal bin Fahd Arts Hall, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Curated by Sacha Craddock.
2021
BUM BUM BA YE [Under Pressure]. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2021
Reflections. Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa. British Museum, London, UK.
2021
Light Upon Light: Light Art Since the 1960s. Noor Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2021
Breaking the Monument. Centro de Arte Galego de Arte Contemporáneo (CGAC). Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
2020
Ver Versus Ver. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Madrid, Spain
2020
Illuminate Me. Northern Alps Art Festival, Japan.
2020
I Love You, Urgently. 21,39 Jeddah Arts. Jeddah, KSA. Curated by Maya El Khalil.
2020
Durational Portrait: A Brief Overview of Video Art In Saudi Arabia. ATHR. Jeddah, KSA.
2020
Desert X AlUla. AlUla, Saudi Arabia. Curated by Neville Wakefield, Raneem Farsi and Aya Alireza.
2019
Your Voice Matters.Museum Arnhem. Curated by Mirjam Westen. Arnhem, Netherlands.
2018
Crude. Jameel Arts Centre. Curated by Murtaza Vali. Dubai, UAE.
2018
Femitopías: Mujeres, feminismo y cultura visual. Curated by Margarita Aizpuru. Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Rafael Botí. Cordoba, Spain.
2018
Tribe: Contemporary Photography From the Arab World. Curated by: Janet Bellotto, Dr. Woodman Taylor. American University Museum, Katzen Arts Centre. Washington DC, USA.
2018
Melancholia. Curated by Louma Salamé. Villa Empain, Boghossian Foundation. Brussels, Belgium.
2017
Letters. Athr Gallery. Jeddah, KSA.
2017
Beatutiful Stranger. Bovenverdieping Museum De Wieger. Deurne, Holland.
2017
Bayn – The in-between.Warehouse 421. Abu Dhabi, UAE.
2017
Safar.Gate 2 Gold Moor Mall. Jeddah, KSA.
2016
Barjeel Art Foundation. Imperfect Chronology - Mapping the Contemporary II. Whitechapel Gallery. London, UK.
2016
Homeground Contemporary Art from the Barjeel Art Foundation. Maraya Art Centre. Sharjah, UAE.
2016
Genera#ion جير. The Minnesota Project. San Francisco, USA.
2016
Illumination - New contemporary art at Louisiana. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Humlebæk, Denmark.
2016
Barjeel Art Foundation.I mperfect Chronology – Mapping the Contemporary II. Whitechapel Gallery. London, UK.
2016
Looking at the World Around You.Contemporary Works from Qatar Museums. - Sala de Arte Santander - Fundación Banco Santander. Madrid, Spain.
2016
Do it- Sharjah Art Foundation Art Spaces, Sharjah, UAE.
2015
Walls and Margins- Maraya Art Centre - Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE.
2015
Home Ground - AGA Khan Museum, Toronto, Canada.
2015
What is Home?- Pump House Gallery, London, UK.
2015
The Unbearable Lightness of Being- Yay Gallery, Baku, Azerbaijan.
2015
FotoFest: View From Inside: Contemporary Arab Photography, Video and Mixed Media Art-Emirates Palace Gallery, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
2015
Collacurating: Sculptural Perspectives - Dubai, UAE.
2015
Anonymous Was A Woman - Hafez Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2015
Islamic Art Now: Contemporary Art Of The Middle East - LA Country Museum, LA, USA.
2014
The Other Sky - JAMM Dubai, Dubai, UAE.
2014
Prospect.3: Notes for Now- Prospect New Orleans, New Orleans, USA.
2014
Songs of Loss and Songs of Love- Gwangju Art Museum, Gwangju, South Korea.
2014
The Other and Me - Sharjah International Photography Exhibition, Sharjah Museum, UAE.
2014
FotoFest - View From Inside - FotoFest Biennial, Houston, TX, USA.
2014
Arab Contemporary -Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark.
2014
Paintings, Sculptures & Projects Garden, Mathaf - Museum of Modern Arab Art, Doha, Qatar.
2014
Mualgat Exhibition as part of the Jeddah Arts - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2014
Now Babylon, architectural exhibition - Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark.
2013
Against the Grain - CAP Kuwait, Kuwait City, Kuwait.
2013
ICA Film Screening: Qatar UK Year of Culture. Cinema on the Steps - London, UK.
2013
Mind/Body exhibition - Dubai, UAE.
2012
A Subtle Perfume - CAN Foundation - Space CAN, Seoul, South Korea.
2012
Light from the Middle East: About the Exhibition- Victoria & Albert Museum - V&A, London, UK.
2012
I Am. Harnessing 21st Century Challenges: A Focus on Women - Clinton Foundation, Arkansas, USA.
2012
#cometogether - Old Truman Brewery, London, UK.
2012
Soft Power - AIAan Art Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2012
The Samawi Collection II - Ayyam Gallery - Beirut, Lebanon.
2012
Simply Words?- AB Gallery - Lucerne, Switzerland.
2012
Domination, Hegemony and The Panopticon- Traffic, Dubai, EAU.
2012
Edge of Arabia Jeddah: We Need to Talk - Al Furusiya Marina, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2012
Edge Of Arabia Jeddah: We Need To Talk- EOA. Projects, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK.
2011
Metropolis. city life in the urban age - Noorderlicht Photo Festival, Groningen, Nederlands.
2011
Freedom to Create - National Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia.
2011
The Future of a Promise - Collateral exhibition, Venice Biennale - Magazzini del Sale, Venice, Italy.
2011
The Bravery Of Being Out Of Range - Athr Gallery, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2011
Freedom to Create- Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai, India.
2011
Strike Oppose- Maraya Art Centre - Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE.
2011
Freedom to Create - Ana Tzarev Gallery, New York, USA.
2011
Righ Here Right Now - ​Cuadro Gallery, Dubai, UAE.
2011
Edge Of Arabia - ​Termina, Dubai, UAE.
2011
Look Beyond - ​Opec Fund for International Development, Vienna, Austria.
2010
Peripheral Vision- Maraya Art Centre - Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE.
2010
Once Upon A Time- Bait Muzna Gallery, Muscat, Oman.
2010
Fluid Form I - Contemporary Art from Arab Countries in Seoul, South Korea.
2010
Grey Borders/Grey Frontiers - Saudi Contemporary Art comes to Berlin, Germany.
2009
Journey into Art - Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
2009
Nawafith (Windows) - Saudi Italian Artist Exchange, Exhibit Rome, Italy.
2008
Edge Of Arabia: Contemporary Art From Saudi Arabia - Venice, Italy.
2008
Edge Of Arabia: Contemporary Art From Saudi Arabia - London, UK.
2008
Reorientations, Exhibit Brussels, Belgium.
2008
The Right to Space, Manama, Bahrein.
2007
Regards de Femmes (through the Eyes of Women),Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2007
Self-Representation in the Arabian Gulf: Perspectives in Photography and Video- Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar - VCUQ, Doha, Qatar.
2007
Common Ground- Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah, UAE.
2007
British Foreign Trade Office, Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
2007
Nawafith (Windows) - Exhibit Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2007
The City and the Street - Circle 4, Muscat, Oman.
2006
National Oil Companies Meeting in Sauidi Arabia, Khobar, Saudi Arabia.
2006
Gallery of Social and Political Art, Boston, USA.
2006
Saudi Aramco Art Group, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
2006
StarSight Project, Dubai, UAE.
2006
Riwaq Gallery, Manawa, Bahrein.
2006
Common Ground Exhibit arabian Gulf region.
2005
Thahab - Exhibition Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
2004
International Sudent House Photo Exhibit, London, UK.
2003
Looking Through The Glass Exhibit - Burgos, Spain.
2003
International Museum of Women, San Francisco, USA.

Art Fairs
2024
Art Dubai. Sabrina Amrani. Dubai, UAE.
2023
Art Basel Hong Kong. Sabrina Amrani. Hong Kong, China.
2023
Art Dubai. Sabrina Amrani. Dubai, UAE.
2023
ARCOmadrid. Sabrina Amrani. Madrid, Spain.
2022
Abu Dhabi Art. Sabrina Amrani. Abu Dhabi, UAE.
2022
ARCOmadrid. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Madrid, Spain.
2020
ARCOmadrid. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Madrid, Spain.
2020
Taipei Dandgai. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Taipei, Taiwan.
2019
Art Basel Miami Beach. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Miami, USA.
2019
ARCOlisboa. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Lisbon, Portugal.
2019
ARCOmadrid. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Madrid, Spain.
2018
Artissima. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Turin, Italy.
2018
ARCOmadrid. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Madrid, Spain.
2017
Art Brussels. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Brussels, Belgium.
2017
The Armory Show. Sabrina Amrani Gallery,. New York, USA.
2017
ARCOmadrid. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Madrid, Spain.
2016
ArtBo. Sabrina Amrani Gallery. Bogota, Colombia.

Residencies
2015
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Captiva, USA.
2014
The Project Room. Mathaf Museum of Modern Arab Art. Doha, Qatar.
2011
The Townhouse Gallery. Cairo, Egypt.
2010
Cuadro Gallery Residency Program. Dubai, UAE.
2009
Delfina Foundation. London, UK.

Awards and grants
2014
Arab Women Award: Artist of the year.

Publications
Crude by Murtaza Vali- Published by Jameel Art Center, Dubai, UAE, 2018. ISBN 978-9948-38-137-2
Subversive Ceramics by Claudia Clare- Published by Bloomsbury Academic, London, UK, 2016. ISBN 978-1-4725-2854-4
Tribe Magazine Featured Artist, text by Laura Barlow- Issue Q4 2018, Cover and 12 pages Image Spread.
Art Imitates Life by Rania Habib- Architechtural Digest ME, Issue July/August 2018, p. 38
Imperfect Cronology: Arab Art to the Contemporary- Works from Barjeel Foundation- Edited by Omar Kholeif with Candy Stobbs- Published by Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK. 2015- ISBN 978-3-7913-5485-9
Hitting the Road (driving), by Manal AlDowayan- Forescast Issue: A View Beyond the Horizon, Issue 07, 2018. Publisehd by The Monocle Magazine.
I Am, by Manal AlDowayan. The Visual Research and Social Justice special issue of Studies in Social Justice Journal, December 2017.
Do it (in Arabic)- Edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist y Hoor AlQassimi- Published by the Sharjah Art Foundation 2016- ISBN 978-1-926473-05-5.
Home Ground Contemporary Art from the Barjeel Art Foundation. Published by The Aga Khan Museum. 2015. ISBN: 978-1-926473-05-5
Color and Line - The Naqvi Collection. Published by The Naqvi Collection. 2015. ISBN: 978-9948-18-110-1
Summer Autumn Winter ... and Spring: Conversations with Artists from the Arab World, by Sam Bardouil and Till Fellrath. Skira Publishing Group.
Prospect.3: Notes For Now, by Franklin Sirmans and contributions by Christin Y. Kim and Rita Gonzalez. Prestel Publishing. ISBN: 978-37-9135-403-3
View From Inside - Contemporary Arab Photography, Video, and Mixed Media Art. FotoFest Houston. ISBN: 978 - 90-5330-825-7
Arab Contemporary - Architecture and Identity. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. ISBN: 978-87-92877-24-6
Light from the Middle East: New Photography. V&A Publishing. ISBN: 978-3-86930-557-8
If I Forget You, Don’t Forget Me. Cuadro Publications. ISBN: 978-9948-16-986-4.
Arab Photography Now, edited by Rose Issa and Michket Krifa. ISBN: 978-3-86828-189-7
Metropolis: City Life in the Urban Age Noorderlicht, edited by Wim Melis and Ton Broekhuis. ISBN: 978-90-76703-46-6
Edge of Arabia. Edge of Arabia. ISBN: 978-0-9561146-1-8
Ibn Saud: The Desert Warrior and His Legacy, by Michael Darlow and Barbara Bray. ISBN: 978-0-7043-7181-1
Imagining Ourselves: Global Voices from a New Generation of Women.International Museum of Women. Editor Paula Goldman, March 2006, pages 194-195.
Self-Representation in the Arabian Gulf – Perspectives in Photography and Video. Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar. ISBN: 978-1-934253
Common Ground. Catalogue for Common Ground at Sharjah Art Museum, British Council.

Public collections
Centre Pompidou. Paris, France.
Colección Alma Colectiva. Guadalajara, México.
Black Gold Museum. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture. Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. Humlebæk, Denmark.
The British Museum. London, UK.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Los Angeles, USA.
Mathaf Museum of Modern Arab Art. Doha, Qatar.
Jordan Gallery of Fine Arts. Amman, Jordan.
Abdul Latif Jameel Foundation. London, UK.
Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH). Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Nadour Foundation. Berlin, Germany.
Barjeel Foundation. Sharjah, UAE.