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Legends
Letter from the editor

Legends

Legends
Reveal Here

Art piece by Ali Al-Shareef.

By Rym Al-Ghazal
August 23rd, 2020

The golden mask. The lost city in the desert. Women who rode lions, mysterious magical creatures and men who conquered Jinn. These are just a handful of legends from Arabia and later Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom is filled with mythical, mysterious legends and stories that have passed down through civilizations and generations. There are also living legends and figures from history who contributed to the foundation and development of a nation. In this edition, we pay homage to legends in all its forms. Whether imagined or founded on truth, the Arab world is filled with legends that need to be celebrated more and revived

to remain sources of inspiration. Our special featured cover artist is Ali Al-Shareef, who is more than just a creator. Presented here for the first time to the public is an exclusive debut of ‘Al Qatt Al-Thamudi’—traditional interior wall decoration of the Thamud Civilization—that took him over two years to study, document and revive. Human and bird-like symbols, different floral patterns, moon and sun related carvings related to religious rituals of the time are just some of the Thamud era heritage Al-Shareef hopes to popularize and enlist at UNESCO as part of an intangible heritage.

Cassettes of Arab legends: Lebanon’s iconic singer Fairouz, Egypt’s diva Umm Kulthum and the romantic crooner Abdul Halim Hafez dubbed ‘Al-Andaleeb Al-Asmar’ — the Dark-skinned or Tan Nightingale — and Syrian-Egyptian composer and singer Farid Al-Atrash. Artwork by Saudi artist Bassem Al Sharqi.
Cassettes of Arab legends: Lebanon’s iconic singer Fairouz, Egypt’s diva Umm Kulthum and the romantic crooner Abdul Halim Hafez dubbed ‘Al-Andaleeb Al-Asmar’ — the Dark-skinned or Tan Nightingale — and Syrian-Egyptian composer and singer Farid Al-Atrash. Artwork by Saudi artist Bassem Al Sharqi.
Art pieces by Ali Al-Shareef.
“The journey in God by God,” 2017 (by God, in that the spiritual traveler leaves his or her own existence and ascribes his journey to God). By Saudi Artist Basmah Felemban. Courtesy Basmah Felemban and Athr Gallery, Details: Laser engraved on coppered plywood with gilded embellishments and a rotating mechanism. 65 x 65 cm. It is a map of the constellations using ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi’s work titled “Book of the Constellations of the Fixed Stars”, it resembles the second journey, and one of the maps or tools that a traveler would need on his journey to transcend from one realm to another.
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