JEDDAH: Saudi painter Ola Hijazi will hold the longest individual exhibition in the country starting Wednesday at the Saudi Industrial Property Authority (MODON) building. The exhibition, the artist's fourth, will contain 60 artworks divided into five sections and will continue for three months. Hijazi's paintings in one of the sections, named Symphonies, are inlaid with fine Arabic calligraphy. Black symbols, letters and numbers dominate in the Washmiyat section. Another section called Darweehiyaat contains paintings inlaid with verses of the late poet Mahmoud Darweesh. Other sections are: Almuwashahaat, which represents art schools that emerged in Andalusia away from well-known schools, and Kalthoomiyaat, which has paintings associated with the lyrics sung by Umm Kulthoom – the queen of Arab classical music. Hijazi is known in the plastic art field for her strong and well-thought-out experiences, in addition to her independent activities abroad away from the protocols of the Ministry of Culture and Information. She has a bachelor's degree in Arabic language, specializing in literature, and a diploma in psychology, in addition to several certificates from colleges in London. She teaches painting to children through workshops held at her studio. She has received several local awards including the Abha cultural prize, and first place at the plastic art female competition for two consecutive years.
