MANAL AL-DOWAYAN

Manal Al Dowayan was born in 1973 in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where she lives and works today. She studied for a BA in Management Information Systems and an MA in Systems Analysis and Design at London Metropolitan University.

Over the course of her education, she has studied photography at art institutions in Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Bahrain and London and started freelancing as a photographer while working for a Saudi Arabian oil company. She is now a full-time photographer, whose work focuses on women and their environment.

In 2011 she was a Fellow of the British Council International Cultural Leadership programme and in 2010 was awarded a Fellowship at the Clore Leadership programme. She was also artist-in-residence at the Cuadro Fine Art Gallery in Dubai (2010), and Delfina Foundation, London (2009).

Al Dowayan was selected for the group show, “The Future of a Promise”, at the 54th Venice Biennale (2011), and also took part in the 2009 Venice Biennale and the 2010 Berlin Biennale.

Her recent group exhibitions include “Look Beyond” at the OPEC Fund for International Development, Vienna (2011); “Edge of Arabia: Terminal”, Art Dubai (2011); “Right Here Right Now”, Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, Dubai (2011); “Freedom to Create”, New York, Mumbai, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (2011); “The Bravery of Being Out of Range”, Athr Gallery, Jeddah (2011); “Fluid Form I: Contemporary Art from Arab Countries”, The Korea Foundation Cultural Center, Seoul (2010); the Saudi-Italian artist exchange, “Nawafith” (2007-09); “Edge of Arabia”, Brunei Gallery, London (2008); “The City and The Street”, Circle 4, Muscat, Oman (2007); “Common Ground”, which toured the British Council Bahrain, UAE and Saudi Arabia (2006); “Right to Space: Bahraini Women Art Exhibition”, Al Riwaq Gallery Manama, (2006); and “Pointing to the Future”, 49th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, United Nations, New York (2005). Her recent solo shows include “And We Had No Shared Dreams”, Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, Dubai (2009); “Manal Al Dowayan”, Bastakiya Art Fair, Dubai (2009); and “Landscapes of the Mind”, Cuadro Fine Art Gallery, Dubai (2009).

Her work is in the permanent collections of the British Museum, London; the Abdul Latif Jamil Foundation, London; the Delfina Foundation, London; The Jordan National Gallery of Fine Art, Amman; the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage; the Nadour Collection, Germany; and the Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah.