Planting Enriching Stories — Five Year Anniversary
“Birds Startled by Spirit” by Lucy Qinnuayuak (Inuit, 1915–1982). Ithraeyat paid homage to a timeless and beautiful poetic collection of art by featuring the first-ever debut of Canadian indigenous art. The collection was published in the ‘Threads’ edition of Ithraeyat.
The name of the magazine is born out of Ithra, which is the other name for The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture. It also refers to ‘enriching,’ and so Ithra-e-yat, a play on the Arabic word of Ithra, is a plural of enrichment, and in this case, a collection of enriching stories.
In another interesting twist: the word “Magazine” has its origins in the Arabic word makhzan, a storehouse. Ultimately, Ithraeyat Magazine is a storehouse of unique, enriching stories.
Born in 2020 during the COVID-19 epidemic lockdowns, the magazine grew to feature hundreds of artists, creatives, and cultural figures; promote more than a 1000 art pieces in different forms — including the first ever debut of Canadian Indigenous art — and become a station of cultural growth for many writers as well.
We discovered through our pages unique and somewhat humorous facts, such as in the ‘Legends’ edition, about how concepts of beauty in past civilizations in Arabia have lasted to this day; where ancient rock art on mountainous areas in Saudi Arabia depict and admire the curvy full-bodied woman, or as they said then (and even today) — the Murabraba woman.
Ithraeyat debuted the first AI-generated art on its cover in 2022 for our ‘Identity’ edition, before the conversation of the impact of AI became mainstream and one of the biggest changes to our lives.
Ithraeyat debuted the first Artificially generated art on its cover, in 2022 for our ‘Identity’ edition, a topic that continues to be explored today as it has been in the past.
We have had gems published in our magazine, such as ‘Architectural Sketch – Prime Minister's House,’ by Zaha Hadid from 1979 that was published in Ithraeyat’s ‘Sketches’ edition.
This was Zaha’s ‘first major project,’ and she didn’t give up even though it wasn’t chosen as part of a competition. This piece illustrates the ‘Queen of Cures’ signature take on curves and flow in this simple-looking yet complex sketch.
‘Architectural Sketch – Prime Minister's House,’ by Zaha Hadid. 1979, Gouache on paper, 20 x 27.8 cm. Image courtesy of Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah.
Debut of the late HRH Prince Badr bin Abdulmohsin’s paintings and an exclusive interview with him at his home.
“Art is everywhere...You can’t stop art; it will find its way to express itself...” — The late HRH Prince Badr Bin Abdulmohsin Al-Saud (April 1949 - 4 May 2024), the legendary poet, in his last interview, shared his artistic side with us in the edition dedicated to the ‘Desert’ theme.
Art pieces & poetry courtesy of the Badr Bin Abdulmohsin Cultural Foundation. Published in Ithraeyat’s ‘Desert’ edition.
Ithraeyat also had the honor of an exclusive interview with the ‘Mother of Saudi art’ — Safeya Binzagr, published in the ‘Nostalgia’ edition — who also passed away in 2024 (1940- 12 Sept 2024).
"Since a long time ago Saudi women were working hard in many fields and today, the world can see it all, and women can harvest the results of their relentless work through the last century …” — the late Safeya bBinzagr told Ithraeyat’s Editor in Chief, and who also shared her love of animals, such as cats, dogs and birds, including her beloved parrots named Honey and Spicy.
The famous ‘Mona Lisa of Hijaz,’ also known as ‘The Hijazi Mona Lisa,’ originally titled 'Al Zaboon.’ Painted in oil colors back in 1969, it presents Hijazi women’s traditional clothing in the western region of Saudi Arabia.
Some believe it to be a self-portrait of the artist, Safeya Binzagr. Courtesy of the artist. Her story and her art featured in Ithraeyat’s ‘Nostalgia’ edition.
And so, as we bid farewell to one season and welcome nature’s gift of another, join us in our garden of stories, and explore all our editions of Ithraeyat here.
To check out our four year anniversary milestones, please click here.
Thank you all for being part of the Ithraeyat journey.
‘Garden,’ by UAE artist Ebtisam Abdulaziz. Acrylic on paper, 110 x 80 cm, 2003. Image courtesy of Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah Featured in Ithraeyart’s ‘Garden’ edition in 2020.
