The Red Sea Museum in Historic Jeddah has opened Photographing Distance, an exhibition by Argentine artist Matilde Marín that is being shown in Saudi Arabia for the first time. The show brings together photography and video installations documenting lighthouses in many parts of the world, including two on the Kingdom’s own coast in Jeddah and Yanbu. It runs until December 31.
The museum operates under the Museums Commission, which has been bringing international artists to Saudi venues as part of a wider push to enrich the country’s cultural calendar. Marín’s works come from a long-running project she began in 2005, in which she treats lighthouses as more than tools for ships. In her framing they become lasting symbols of guidance and hope, and markers of the bond between people and the places they leave or return to. The works on show mix still photography with video installation.
The choice of venue gives the exhibition an obvious local resonance. Historic Jeddah grew as a Red Sea port, and the museum’s collection focuses on the maritime heritage of the coastline. Including lighthouses from Jeddah and Yanbu alongside those from other countries ties Marín’s global series to the Saudi shoreline, and invites visitors to read familiar landmarks as part of a wider story of navigation and memory.
The opening featured a guided tour led by the artist herself, followed by a discussion session and a musical performance. The museum has also built a public programme around the show that will run through its three-month stay. Plans include film screenings, poetry evenings and creative photography workshops, along with family activities such as building model lighthouses, aimed at drawing younger audiences into the galleries. The museum presents the programme as a way to connect visitors with the region’s maritime heritage, using contemporary art as the entry point.
The exhibition adds to a growing list of international shows staged in Jeddah’s restored historic district, which has become a focus for cultural tourism in the Kingdom. For visitors, the run until the end of December overlaps with the cooler months, when the old town sees its busiest season. The Museums Commission has presented such collaborations as a way to connect contemporary art with the region’s past, and Photographing Distance gives that approach a clear maritime theme rooted in the Red Sea itself.
