During the oil boom in the late 1970s and 1980s, there was a focused civic effort led by the then city's mayor Mohamed Said Farsi  to bring art to Jeddah's public areas.
As a result, Jeddah contains a large number of modern open-air sculptures and works of art, typically situated in roundabouts, making the city one of the largest open-air art galleries in the world.
Sculptures include works by Jean/Hans Arp, César Baldaccini, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Joan Miró and Victor Vasarely.
They often depict traditional Saudi items such as coffee pots, incense burners, palm trees, etc.
The fact that Islamic tradition prohibits the depiction of living creatures, notably the human form, has made for some very creative, as well as bizarre, modern art.
These include a giant geometry set, a giant bicycle, and a huge block of concrete with several cars protruding from it at odd angles and a monumental sculpture by Aref Rayess called "Swords of God (Soyuf Allah)".
During the oil boom in the late 1970s and 1980s, there was a focused civic effort led by the then city's mayor Mohamed Said Farsi  to bring art to Jeddah's public areas. As a result, Jeddah contains a large number of modern open-air sculptures and works of art, typically situated in roundabouts, making the city one of the largest open-air art galleries in the world. Sculptures include works by Jean/Hans Arp, César Baldaccini, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Joan Miró and Victor Vasarely. They often depict traditional Saudi items such as coffee pots, incense burners, palm trees, etc. The fact that Islamic tradition prohibits the depiction of living creatures, notably the human form, has made for some very creative, as well as bizarre, modern art. These include a giant geometry set, a giant bicycle, and a huge block of concrete with several cars protruding from it at odd angles and a monumental sculpture by Aref Rayess called "Swords of God (Soyuf Allah)".
Jeddah