The Ship of Tolerance sails into Jeddah

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Jeddah’s historic Al-Balad district will host a rare arrival next month: “The Ship of Tolerance,” a large-scale installation by internationally acclaimed artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, making its first appearance in Saudi Arabia. Created in collaboration with children and centered on dialogue around coexistence and diversity, the 20-year-old project lands in the kingdom at a moment of heightened global strain. Elsewhere in Jeddah, ATHR Gallery opens a solo exhibition by Saudi artist Sara Abdu alongside her participation in this year’s Desert X AlUla. In Dhahran, Ithra turns its focus to Spain with a monthlong program of art, music and performance under the banner Live Spain.

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Rebecca

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1. Leading the week: ‘The Ship of Tolerance’ comes to Jeddah 

A view of “The Ship of Tolerance.” (Courtesy the Kabakov Foundation)

Amid deepening global uncertainty, “The Ship of Tolerance” — a 20-year collaborative art project by artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov — will arrive in Jeddah next month for its first-ever presentation in Saudi Arabia. Hosted by ATHR Foundation, the nonprofit arm of ATHR Gallery, the Jeddah edition marks the project’s 20th iteration worldwide.

Created in 2005 by the late conceptual artist Ilya Kabakov, who passed away in 2023, and his wife and longtime creative partner Emilia Kabakov, the international project brings children together through art, music and dialogue to explore themes of tolerance and diversity. Participating children create drawings that are later stitched into the sails of a full-scale ship. The project has previously been staged in major cities including Venice, Sharjah, London and New York. Its debut in Jeddah continues this global mission under the theme “Rooted in Our Values. Connected to the World.”

"’The Ship of Tolerance’ is more than a vessel; it's a symbol of unity being built by the hands of master craftsmen and brought to life by the dreams of our children,” Zaynab Odunsi, ATHR project manager for “The Ship of Tolerance” in Jeddah, told Al-Monitor. “In the heart of historic Jeddah, where cultures have met for centuries, we are creating a monument to the values that connect us all: genuine welcoming spirit, creativity and shared humanity," said Odunsi.

The Jeddah edition is being delivered in partnership with Stellar Education, with support from UNESCO, the Office of the Governor of Jeddah and the Jeddah Historic District.

Shaped by Jeddah’s maritime heritage and multicultural identity, the project will include a series of collaborative painting workshops designed by ATHR Foundation. More than 700 students from eight partner schools will participate through Stellar Education, underscoring the scale and educational reach of the initiative.

The resulting artworks will form the sails of a 14-meter-long vessel standing 20 meters high, constructed in collaboration with local artisans and the Kabakov shipbuilding team. The ship will be unveiled in Al-Balad — Jeddah’s UNESCO World Heritage Site — during Ramadan 2026, reinforcing the project’s dialogue between local heritage and global artistic exchange.

Construction of the ship will begin on Jan. 17 at Arbaeen Lake in Al-Balad, with visitors invited to observe the process from a safe distance.

Date: Feb. 14

Location: Al-Balad, Jeddah

Find more information here.

2. Word on the street: Blu Pizzeria

An enticing pizza at Blu Pizzeriá in Riyadh. (Courtesy of Blu Pizzeria)

Emirati-owned Blu Pizzeria has brought its wood-fired pizzas from Dubai to Riyadh, opening on Al Takhassousi in a sleek, contemporary space that mirrors its original outpost. The menu stays rooted in classic Italian techniques while folding in Middle Eastern influences, a balance that has helped build its following. Standouts include the burrata pizza topped with cherry tomatoes and basil, alongside more adventurous options such as the short ribs pizza, layered with Black Angus beef, caramelized onions and truffle sauce. Regional flavors also make an appearance with the musakhan pizza, inspired by the Palestinian staple and topped with spiced roasted chicken, onions, sumac, allspice, saffron and fried pine nuts.

Location: Al Takhassousi Road, An Nakheel, Riyadh

Find more information here.

3. Riyadh diary

“Distance Begins Where Remembrance Ends,” 2026. Compressed henna. (Courtesy of Sara Abdu and ATHR Gallery)

• ‘Intimate Architectures of Belonging’ by Sara Abdu

To mark Saudi artist Sara Abdu’s participation in this year’s Desert X AlUla, ATHR Gallery is presenting a solo exhibition of her work. The exhibition features a landscape of Abdu’s various creations that appear both architectural and spectral, reflective of remnants of domestic life rendered in impermanent materials. 

Throughout the exhibition, Abdu presents a series of familiar forms: a staircase made of wax, a floor assembled from compressed henna tiles, a field of bukhoor cubes and an

anthropomorphized melancholic figure named July. Together, the works showcase a topology of belonging shaped by repetition, breakage, inheritance and the quiet, often unseen rituals that bind us to a place. Abdu incorporates textures and scents reflective of a home to reconstruct the largely indivisible elements that support and influence its aesthetic nature and energetic makeup.

Date: Until May 2

Location: ATHR Gallery, 5th Floor, Office Tower, Serafi Mega Mall, Tahlia Street, Jeddah

Find more information here. 

• Arduna, by AlUla's Contemporary Art Museum and France's Centre Pompidou 

Arduna, a collaborative exhibition staged by the forthcoming contemporary art museum in AlUla and the Centre Pompidou, with the support of AFALULA (the French Agency for AlUla development), will showcase over 80 artworks from Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa region and beyond during the fifth edition of the AlUla Arts Festival. 

Arduna, which translates from Arabic to “our land” in English, aims to offer visitors a preview of the curatorial vision for AlUla’s future contemporary art museum, an international institution rooted in the region’s cultural oasis and heritage. The works on view are drawn from the Royal Commission for AlUla’s growing collection, alongside significant pieces from the collection of the Musee National d’Art Moderne-Centre Pompidou. The exhibition is cocurated by Candida Pestana, with associate curator Ftoon AlThaedi from the Royal Commission for AlUla, and Anna Hiddleston with associate curator Noemie Fillon from Centre Pompidou.

Date: Feb. 1 to April 15

Location: AlUla

Find more information here.

• Ithra Cultural Days: Live Spain

This month, Ithra — the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture — welcomes Spanish music, food, art and performances in a 19-day event. The heritage and culture of the European country will take place across Ithra’s museum, theater, plaza, gardens, library, idea lab and children’s museum, among other locations. There will also be special exhibitions dedicated to Spanish photography, sports and fashion, as well as a production of “Carmen,” among the highlights. 

Date: Until Jan. 31

Location: Ithra, Dhahran

Find more information here.

4. Book of the week: ‘Makkah, The Holy City of Islam’

This elegantly produced volume guides readers through Makkah, Islam’s holiest city. Through evocative photography and lucid, engaging text by Meraj N. Mirza — a member of the Makkah Province Board and a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Center for Geographic Analysis — the book offers an immersive journey into the spiritual and cultural heart of Islam. It explores the city’s traditions, religious significance and architectural heritage, with particular focus on the Ka’bah, the cube-shaped structure at the center of the Grand Mosque. Believed to have been first built by Adam and later rebuilt by Abraham and his son Ishmael, the Ka’bah remains the focal point toward which Muslims around the world turn in daily prayer.

5. View from Saudi Arabia

Australian rider Daniel Sanders competes with a Ktm 450 Rally Factory in Stage 9, a marathon stage, during the 48th edition of the Dakar Rally 2026 between Wadi ad-Dawasir and Bisha in Saudi Arabia on Jan. 13, 2026. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP via Getty Images

6. By the numbers

• Saudi Arabia's Heritage Commission registered 744 new archaeological sites in June 2025, boosting the National Antiquities Register to 10,061 sites, with major additions in Riyadh, Madinah and Najran.
• According to the Saudi Gazette, the newly registered sites span various regions in the kingdom, including 253 in Riyadh, 11 in Makkah, 167 in Madinah, 30 in Qassim, 64 in Asir, 72 in Tabuk, 13 in Hail, 23 in Jazan and 86 in Najran, among others.