40 years ago, Jeddah mayor Mohamed Said Farsi transformed his city through an urban development scheme that placed contemporary art at its core. This was public art on a grand scale, designed 'to bring delight to the citizen, to give a sense of wonder and stir a sense of history'. Works were commissioned from the world's greatest sculptors and this book documents the restoration and relocation of some 26 major works to a new Open Air Museum.
The resulting-and unprecedented-urban landscape is now enriched by a diversity of works from world-famous artists, such as Arp, César, Calder, Lipschitz, Miró, Moore, Pomodoro, and Vasarely, as well as regional artists including Salah Abdulkarim and Shafiq Mazloum. This book shows Saudi Arabia as a place of artistic vision and innovation and allows a glimpse into a city not easily visited. Jeddah has grown since 1972 and now some 53 major pieces are being restored and relocated to the sea front, known as the Corniche.