Saudi Arabia's national pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale features a new installation by Saudi-Palestinian artist Dana Awartani titled "May your tears never dry, you who weep over stones." Curated by Art Jameel's director Antonia Carver and assistant curator Hafsa Alkhudairi, the work comprises over 29,000 handmade clay bricks arranged in intricate mosaics referencing 23 threatened cultural heritage sites across the Arab world, including Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. The installation, which took more than 30,000 labor hours with 32 artisans, has become a crowd favorite since the biennale opened on May 9.
The pavilion matters because it foregrounds the destruction of cultural heritage in real time, connecting deeply with pro-Palestinian sentiments at the biennale. Awartani, the first artist from Jeddah's Hijaz region to show in Venice, challenges homogeneous perceptions of Saudi Arabia by highlighting its cultural diversity. The work's collaborative, craft-intensive process and its resonance with global art-world audiences underscore how art can address urgent geopolitical realities while preserving threatened traditions.