Born in Jeddah in 1994, Raghad Al Ahmad works in digital collages and installations, merging media, design, and art idioms. Frequently drawing on the history of the Gulf and the Middle East, she collages together historical and contemporary iconographies, setting these against tropes drawn from design. These sources range from postmodernism Memphis and the modernist Bauhaus to classical Islamic architecture, and create atemporal, stylish depictions.
In her project the Dada People, she drew on the collective experience of college to bring communities to learn techniques of collage together in a playful environment. Iterations of the project were held with the Saudi Arts Council, a children’s edition at the Al Balad Festival in Jeddah, and in Kuwait.
Al Ahmad has also taken the idea of the artwork as a compendium of historical references literally: for her winning project for the 2020 Ithra Tanween design program, she proposed transforming the abandoned phone booths in the Al-Malaz district of Riyadh into micro-libraries. She also works as a graphic and interior designer, bringing her aesthetic to multiple platforms.
Her work has been shown at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal; Hafez Gallery in Jeddah, the Medina Art Center; the Saudi Art Council’s Tasmeem Initiative in Jeddah; and Young Saudi Artists (YSA) in 2018 at Athr in Jeddah.
