Visual artist Hanaa Al-Shibli interprets Saudi heritage through digital art.
Ahwal Al-Ma'rifa – Special
There is a saying: “Life is not a journey to discover yourself; it is a journey to create yourself, so create something for yourself that is difficult to imitate.” This saying awakened a challenge within me, motivating me not to be content with being merely an art student, but to aspire to the title of a “visual artist.”
This is how visual artist Dr. Hanaa Al-Shibli speaks in one of her interviews, highlighting the tremendous effort she has made since childhood to build her own artistic world and develop her unique artistic experience. In 1988 AD / 1409 AH, she presented her first genuine artistic participation alongside a group of male and female visual artists at the “First Riyadh Art Exhibition” at Tuwaiq Palace in the Diplomatic Quarter.
Her artistic journey began in the early years of the third millennium, starting with simple childhood scribbles and progressing into specialization in visual and digital art, which culminated in her earning a doctorate in digital design. Her efforts continued until her participation reached more than 100 local group exhibitions and 11 international exhibitions.
Digital Art and Heritage
Dr. Hanaa Al-Shibli’s paintings remain closely connected to the inspiration she draws from the Saudi environment, with its deep history, the aesthetics of its places, and its extensive heritage, manifested in old buildings and in the rich historical and archaeological heritage distributed throughout the geography and regions of the Kingdom. Dr. Hanaa Al-Shibli draws extensively from this heritage and reshapes it artistically. We find paintings depicting historic houses characterized by distinctive architectural styles, such as those found in Riyadh, Jeddah, and Asir. We also find numerous paintings expressing Riyadh through its various neighborhoods, as well as works celebrating National Day. In one remarkable digital painting, she expresses national unity through an imaginative outstretched hand embracing many regions of the Kingdom and representing them through their geographical symbols, such as Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh, Jeddah, Asir, and other regions of the Kingdom. Elsewhere, she depicts desert landscapes, while in other paintings she draws inspiration from desert life and its most famous scenes, particularly horses and camels.
Despite the attractions of digital visual art, which can lead artists into worlds of technology, modern machinery, towering concrete buildings, and technological advancement, Dr. Hanaa Al-Shibli continues to develop her artistic imagination within the world of heritage and explore the authenticity of national identity by drawing inspiration from the environment of the Kingdom in her diverse visual artworks.
The Language of the Age
Dr. Hanaa Al-Shibli chairs the Board of Directors of the Saudi Society for Visual Arts. She is also a digital designer. She worked as an educational expert at the Ministry of Education in the Curriculum Department, specializing in art education, before taking early retirement and devoting herself to visual art and volunteer work.
She is one of the pioneers of digital art in the Kingdom and has participated in numerous art exhibitions inside and outside the Kingdom. In one of her lectures, she explains that digital art is one of the methods practiced across various visual arts and is connected to visual art. It is practiced in the language of the age through modern technology, using computer programs for drawing, design, and photography in two-dimensional or three-dimensional formats, whether static or animated. In this process, the canvas is replaced by the screen, while the traditional brush is replaced by the mouse, electronic brush, or digital pen. Through these tools, the artist expresses emotions and feelings that correspond with artistic and aesthetic values.
Footnotes:
https://artconnection.online/ar/member/v/i/339
