Commissioned by the Art in Embassies Program at the US consulate in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Manal AlDowayan created 'The Encounter' (2022), a five-meter-high site-specific sculptural tapestry based on the exchanges between King Abdulaziz AlSaud and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, where trust and diplomacy are at heart.
Using the traditional bedouin craft of Sadu and hand-dyed wool, the weaving evokes abstracted desert horizons and towering oil rigs. The protruding desert rose elements, from delicate hand-woven Tussar silk, are inscribed with the exchanged letters between the King and President before their encounter.
Using the traditional bedouin craft of Sadu and hand-dyed wool, the weaving evokes abstracted desert horizons and towering oil rigs. The protruding desert rose elements, from delicate hand-woven Tussar silk, are inscribed with the exchanged letters between the King and President before their encounter.
7 September 2022