Abdulmohsen Albinali's journey into the world of storytelling was sparked by a deep fascination with oral histories and folklore of the Arabian Peninsula and stop motion animation. This early enchantment with world-building allowed him to adapt oral narratives into a tangible realm, creating immersive installations where stories experienced.
With oral history retreating from modern society as a tool for learning and understanding, Albinali reclaims the format and represents it in a new light, pushing against colonial institutionalised educating systems and reawakening ancient yet powerful methods of meaning-making. Through his work, Albinali transforms ephemeral histories into tactile visual symphonies, harmonising the temporal dichotomy between antiquity and modernity, fantasy and reality. The exhibition is conceived as a deconstructed cinematic installation, where the props, backgrounds, and other works employed in the stop motion process are meticulously displayed alongside the finalised film with each element within the exhibition beckoning the audience to explore, engage, and ultimately, to participate in the storytelling continuum.
Abdulmohsen Albinali (b. 1988, Saudi Arabia) received a BFA from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City in 2018 and a Masters in Fine Arts at the Slade School of Art, University College London (UCL) in 2023.
Albinali’s practice began when he moved to the United Kingdom in 2008, where he first began painting. In 2013 after moving to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, he became involved with several art institutions, including the Tashkeel art hub, participated in shows at the Emirates Fine Arts Society and attended art classes at Sharjah Art College. This move was followed by another one to New York to pursue a BFA and upon his graduation, a return to Saudi Arabia, where he had his first solo show ‘’Finally We Meet.’’ Since then, Albinali has exhibited at the National Museum in Riyadh, was selected for a residency program at Cite International Des Arts in Paris, France, and in 2020 was selected for the Albalad residency hosted by the Saudi Ministry of Culture, the first residency program of its kind in the kingdom. Most recently, in 2021 Albinali participated in the Masaha Residency at Misk Art Institute in Riyadh, Noor Riyadh festival in 2023 and a solo show at Contemporary Art Platform in Kuwait in 2024.