Mixed Gender Audience Flocks to American Art Opening

UNCLAS RIYADH 001412 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SCUL KPAO KWMN OEXC SA XF ZP ZR SUBJECT: Mixed Gender Audience Flocks to American Art Opening SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION Summary -------------- ¶1. American artist Laurie Goddard visited Saudi Arabia October 3 - October 10, conducting workshops with art students and putting on exhibitions of her paintings in Dhahran, Jeddah and Riyadh. The opening in Riyadh of a show of her work prompted a rare -- for Saudi Arabia -- mixed-gender public event. This opening, at Riyadh's leading art gallery, also drew extensive media coverage. The Embassy and the Ministry of Culture and Information co-sponsored the event, and the Ambassador and Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Abu Bakr Bagader inaugurated the exhibit. The art students who attended Ms. Goddard's workshops were grateful for the experience and enthusiastic about what they learned. The workshops conducted at Princess Noura University in Riyadh provided post with the opportunity to forge new links with the university community. End Summary. Laurie Goddard and Artists Abroad/ART in Embassies -------------- -------------- ¶2. American abstract expressionist painter Laurie Mason Goddard visited Saudi Arabia October 3 through October 10 under the auspices of the American Artists Abroad part of the ART in Embassies program. Her program included workshops and exhibitions in Dhahran, Jeddah, and Riyadh. Art Students' Enthusiasm about Workshops -------------- ¶3. Ms. Goddard's workshops, with female Saudi art students in particular, proved remarkably successful, as aspiring Saudi artists proved keenly eager to discuss both the technical aspects of painting and the role artists play in society. For example, EmbOffs and Ms. Goddard were bowled over by the enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge of the workshop participants at Princess Noura University. The ten fine arts students who participated in Ms. Goddard's hands-on workshop practically demanded that additional workshop time be programmed -- and the sessions were extended. Though taken aback by the students' lack of exposure to Western art -- particularly figure painting and modern painting -- Ms. Goddard was impressed by the students' talent and desire to broaden their horizons. At the end of the workshops' last session, one of the participants said to EmbOffs that she felt "...free, like I am flying. I know now how to express myself in a new way." New Outreach to Academic Community -------------- ¶4. Ms. Goddard's workshops also provided the opportunity for post to broaden its outreach to the Saudi academic community. At Princess Noura University, EmbOffs met with a delegation of faculty members who underlined their interest in working with the Embassy to generate educational programming and get help linking up with U.S. universities potentially interested in partnering relationships with Princess Noura University. Note: The Princess Noura bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh opened in October 2008; the school is a public, women-only institution with a projected capacity of 40,000 students. End Note. Mixed Gender Art Opening Unusual -------------- ¶5. Ms. Goddard's visit to Saudi Arabia ended with a strikingly successful exhibition of her paintings at Riyadh's leading private art gallery, the Hewar Art Gallery. The exhibition, co-sponsored by the Embassy and the Ministry of Culture and Information, was inaugurated by the Ambassador and Deputy Minister for Culture and Information Dr. Abu Baker Bagader. The event received an extraordinary amount of media coverage; over a dozen reporters and a handful of camera crews covered the event, including representatives from Saudi TV-1, the newspaper Al-Jazira, and the women's magazine Sayyidaty. Most striking however, nearly half of the 100 of so guests who attended were women, and all the guests mixed easily.