PRINCE Mansour Bin Khalid Al Saud, Saudi Ambassador to Austria, opened an exhibition of the work of three Saudi artists in Vienna on Feb. 12. Hosted in the OPEC Fund for International Development's (OFID) headquarters on the Parkring in the 1st District, Director General Suleiman J. Al-Herbish opened the vernissage Jan. 27, calling the anniversary an opportunity to reaffirm the organization's mission and to revitalize efforts against poverty and supporting development. The opening marked 35 years since the founding of OFID, and the works by Nuha Al-Shareef, Manal Al-Dhuwaiyan and Sadiq Wasil are on display until Feb. 25. Sadiq Wasil said that his involvement in such international events would serve to “widen our artistic experience and improve contact with other artists from around the world”. “Our visual culture has a lot to offer, and visitors have shown their interest in Saudi art through this exhibition,” he said. “The Saudi artistic movement has grown in presence and success and seen an ever-growing involvement in international events. It has also displayed receptiveness to modernist styles and the post-modernist contemporary arts, and the various concepts and forms of modern art.” The Saudi exhibition is also in continuation of an OFID in-house exhibition series begun in 2009 to bring the art and culture of member and partner countries to the community of OFID host city Vienna. In the past, OFID has held exhibitions focusing on Venezuela, Algeria, Sudan, Iraq and Kenya.
