Scenes of a Matrimony

Animation, 2025
Based on paintings by Safeya Binzager

Scenes of a Matrimony unfolds as a visual chronicle of wedding customs once cherished across the Hijaz region of Saudi Arabia. Beginning with The Trousseau (1972), the animation captures the communal spirit of women gathering to prepare the bride’s trousseau, an exchange of generosity stitched into fabric, jewelry, and food. The second scene,  Al Henna (1969), is hosted on the eve of the wedding. It glows with the scent of fresh henna, as the bride is adorned behind a decorated curtain and women sing, prepare sharbat, and bless her with good fortune.

The rhythm quickens in The Ankle Bracelet (1972–1975), where dance and song accompany the Sak al-Kholkhal ceremony, as a relative fastens a gold bracelet on the bride’s ankle while guests offer coins and celebration fills the air. The journey culminates in Al Nassah (1975), when the bride appears before her groom for the first time, veiled in silk and silver, sanctified by Qur’anic verse, and unveiled in a moment of reverence and beauty.

Reimagined through animation, these scenes breathe life into a collective memory of matrimony, where devotion, craftsmanship, and ritual wove together the social and spiritual fabric of the Hijaz.