70 x 7 The Meal, Act XLVI

As part of the 2024 Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale Biennale Encounters program, Lucy + Jorge Orta are staging a sohoor meal for the local community, making this the 46th activation of their ongoing participatory project 70 x 7 The Meal. 

A long table installation for 300 guests is situated overlooking Wadi Hanifah, a seasonal riverbed and caravan route that historically led pilgrims along the valley to the market, sustaining them with food and water along the way. The menu is prepared by Chef Hissa Alhuthaili (Suhail Restaurant) based on local food traditions, and interventions by local Saudi artists, botanists, heritage experts, farmers punctuate the evening. The table artworks created by Lucy + Jorge Orta specifically for the occasion include a limited edition of Royal Limoges porcelain plates and hand embroidered centrepieces that draw attention to the natural fertility of the Wadi Hanifah and the garden city of Riyadh, which are faced with the encroachment of urban development and loss of traditional knowledge.

Field research on native local plant species in collaboration with botanists from the National Centre for Vegetation Cover Development & Combating Desertification (NCVC) and on the symbolic meaning of traditional Sadu weaving motifs are joined in these table artworks in a repertoire of figurative and abstract geometric shapes to share a new language of resilience.

Special thanks to the National Centre for Vegetation Cover Development & Combating Desertification (NCVC); Dr. Dlayel bint Mutlaq bin Shafi Al-Qahtani (Atharna); Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale’s Artistic Director Ute Meta Bauer, co-curator Wejdan Reda, assistant curator Dr. Amina Diab, co-curator Anca Rujoiu, and curatorial assistants Dian Arumningtyas and Alanood A. Al-Sudairi.