Born in Al Balad in Jeddah in 1940, Binzagr grew up alongside the newly united kingdom. Oil money poured into major urban projects, but the art infrastructure was non-existent. The options for an artist to succeed professionally were limited. That would change in part because of Binzagri
Safeya Binzagr, a pioneering artist who perpetuated folk heritage in her native Saudi Arabia, has died aged 86. Binzagri’s career was “saved” indigenous Saudi culture, which was increasingly threatened by modernization in the mid-19th century. Aware of the limitations of oral histories—at the time, record keeping was not common practice in the Arabian Gulf—Binzagr documented traditional architecture and interior rituals over several years. She translated these studies into intricate fabric collages, expressive sketches and boldly colored paintings.
Born in Al Balad in Jeddah in 1940, Binzagr grew up alongside the newly united kingdom. Oil money poured into major urban projects, but the art infrastructure was non-existent. The options for an artist to succeed professionally were limited. That would change in part because of Binzagri.
She left Arabia to study in Cairo and later London, finally returning home in the late 60s. As a teacher, she supported the creation of a context for the study of regional art. And in 1968, together with her friend, Mounirah Mosly, she exhibited at the Dar Al Tarbiya girls’ school, becoming one of only two artists to ever hold an art exhibition in Saudi Arabia.
“I thought, I will do the exhibition; they will take it or oppose it. If they do, I will try again”, Binzagr told “Vogue Arabia”, adding: “If you have the will, you will do it. Hard work always pays off and pushes you to be at the front of the line.”
In 1995, she opened Darat Safeya Binzagr, the first and only cultural center in Saudi Arabia at that time. Classes for students and private lessons for women, as well as a monthly art salon for women only. Binzagr went on to exhibit widely in the region and Europe, becoming one of the first Saudi artists with an international audience. Her work, while hardly overlooked in the Arab Gulf art record, has gained new critical attention in recent years due to its inclusion in several high-profile exhibitions. Her portrait of a woman in a yellow dress was a feature of the 2022 exhibition “Khaleej Modern: Pioneers and Collectives in the Arabian Peninsula” at the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery.
Curated by Aisha Stoby with the help of Tala Nassar, the exhibition sought to make the first visual narrative of this region – a task that included undoing Western misconceptions of the people who live there. Binzagr and her vibrantly adorned and self-radiating subject went a long way towards this goal.
Binzagr was also included in the second edition of the contemporary art biennale “Diriyah” of Saudi Arabia, which closed in May. Her art was featured in the Modern Legacies and Geopolitics section, a showcase of the previous generation of South Asian and Gulf artists, where it was among the best works on display. It was represented by Turathuna (Our Tradition), 1997–99, a series of 39 etchings. Each small white panel contained a watercolor painting of a woman dressed in traditional Saudi clothing. Binzagr was honored in 2017 by King Salman bin Abdulaziz with first-class honors for her efforts to preserve Saudi art and culture.
