We should all be proud of Mona Khazindar, Saudicurator and historian, the first lady ever to serve as director general of the Paris-basedL'Institut du Monde Arabe "IMA" (or Arab World Institute "AWI") who has beenworking as a curator of contemporary plastic art and photography with themuseum and a supervisor of the permanent art collection of the Institute forover 32 years now. In her point of view, the importance of her role in IMA liesin being able to highlight the Arab Culture, to expose the meeting pointbetween both civilizations of the East and the West, and to establish close anddistinct links with artists, museum officials, art collectors, and critics inthe field of modern and contemporary art, in which she has specialized.One of her significant statements is:
"There are lots of expectations," she said. "I have to prove that Saudi women are no less capable than men
and no less capable than other Arab women. I have to prove that I am no less capable than my male
predecessors from other countries."
Being the vice president and one of the foundingmembers of "Al Mansouria Foundation for Culture and Creativity", she is reallyso concerned with promoting Arab contemporary arts and enhancing culture.Collaborating with different notable and prestigious art institutions,Khazindar is marked by a spectacular experience and a major impact. She isreally an eminent and outstanding figure in Saudi Society, particularly the artscene.
Ever since she was young, destinies perfectly workedfor her excellence in arts and culture; she was born in the United States whereher father, Abid Khazindar a critic, an author, and a journalist was studyingand her mother, Shams Al-Hosseini Khazindar, an editor responsible for thewomen's page in Al-Yamamah Newspaper. In such an art-and-culture involvedfamily, she grew up and learned the value of art in human lives. The well-knownlitterateur father was keen on providing her daughter with the special care andinterest to support her passion for languages and art. They used to share booksand novels and to spend their time in literary discussions. In Paris, where shelived for 38 years, she studied comparative literature at the AmericanUniversity and got her master's degree from the Sorbonne. We can say that sheis multilingual; she can fluently speak English and French besides being anative speaker of Arabic and so she was able to translate so many importanttheses later.
Ms. Khazindar's endeavors to enrich the world of artand culture are undeniable. Yet, she doesn't pass up a chance to represent herhomeland; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is apparently clear in differentsituations – presenting a visual history of Saudi Arabia in an event held atPrinceton University, where she has displayed the Saudi's landscapes, culturalheritage, andcontemporary aesthetics, highlighting the artistic and cultural side of thekingdom that should be borne in mind along with its Islamic character. That'sseparate from being a co-curator of thefirst Saudi pavilion in the 54th edition of the Venice Biennale, in2011. Ms. Khazindarhas successfully conducted lectures in the United States and Europe talkingabout Saudi contemporary art upon request of The King Abdul-Aziz Center forWorld Culture in Dhahran. She has an unforgettable statement in this regard:
"In the beginning, I always thought that the images we have of Saudi Arabia by non-native artists were images
related only to religion and religious heritage," she said. "Why? Because Saudi Arabia is the cradle of Islam, with
many Islamic holy sites. But what I discovered with my research is that Saudi Arabia is a country that has fascinated
and still fascinates artists of different origins and for different reasons. It's a country that is difficult to access, and
when something is less accessible, it becomes more desirable. It's also about the discovery of oil, and the desert. And
because of all this, we do not have one sort of theme or image."
Among her many accomplishments is her first book "View from the Inside: Contemporary Arab Photography, Video and Mixed Media Art" that was published in 2014. She is currently working on another book entitled "Visions from Abroad: Historical and Contemporary Representations of Saudi Arabia" to be published soon in 2019, unveiling so many impressive discoveries about non-native artists representing Saudi Arabia throughout different ages, from hundreds of years ago until today.
She was the first Saudi female to be elected "Woman ofthe Year" in the New Arab Woman Forum "NAWF", in 2012. Recently, Ms. Khazindar wasselected to the 44th rank in The World's Most Powerful Saudis listfor this year, 2018, and previously got the 73rd rank in The World's100 Most Powerful Arab Women list, according to Arabian Business Magazine.
All of this would serve to prove the fact that Saudi women have beenalways capable to achieve self-fulfillment in different arenas at both thedomestic and global levels.
