All welcome, pre-registration required

Join us for a special Family Workshop at Jameel Arts Centre inspired by Mohammad Alfaraj’s  Seas are sweet, fish tears are salty. 

The tour, led by Mohammed Alfaraj, takes an in-depth look at the exhibition Seas are sweet, fish tears are salty, delving into Alfaraj’s artistic practice, particularly looking into storytelling-both written and spoken-alongside the use of found materials, ecological themes, and motifs like palm trees, hands, and birds.

This engaging session invites families to explore the imaginative world of Mohammad Alfaraj through a variety of interactive, hands-on activities that connect art, nature, and storytelling.

The activities are free to attend and run all day to encourage and support creativity and imagination. Jameel Arts Centre strives to provide space for children to share stories, and to foster cultural awareness through artistic exploration that supports healthy child-development and growth.

Family Saturdays at the Jameel are suitable for all ages. All materials and step by step guides will be provided.

Activity Breakdown

11:30AM:

• Tour of the exhibition ‘Seas are sweet, fish tears are salty’

11:00AM – 4:00PM: 

Sensory Stations

• Found Object Drawing: Families are invited to sift through sensory station buckets to discover intriguing objects. Place your chosen object on paper and use drawing materials to imagine and sketch what it could become, letting creativity guide your transformation.

Other Activities

• Exquisite Corpse Drawing: Inspired by the Surrealist game, participants take turns drawing on folded paper, each adding a section without seeing the previous parts. Prompts from a bowl spark imaginative contributions, resulting in surprising, collaborative artworks.
• Styrofoam Printing on Palm Fronts or Bark: Learn the basics of printmaking using styrofoam blocks to create prints on palm fronts or bark-materials that echo the exhibition’s themes and Alfaraj’s use of indigenous elements.
• Tree & Figure Connections: Select an image of a unique tree and a photo of a person in an unusual pose. Combine the two in a drawing, mimicking the distorted, organic forms found in Alfaraj’s work.
• Tomato Face Masks: Using images of tomatoes in various shapes and sizes, create imaginative masks by experimenting with different forms, colors, and expressions.

Storytelling Activities – Led by Mohammad Alfaraj:

• Continue the Story: Gather in the Nest for a collaborative storytelling session. Mohammad begins a tale, and participants take turns adding one word at a time, building a collective narrative filled with twists, turns, and laughter.

About the exhibition:

Seas are sweet, fish tears are salty presents a rich collection of installations, photography, video works, and site-specific commissions that respond to the Centre’s gardens and outdoor spaces. Drawing from Alfaraj’s writings and inspired by the agricultural landscapes, oral traditions, and everyday life of his hometown Al-Ahsa, the exhibition weaves together stories and motifs-such as hands, palm trees, and birds-across multiple media. It explores themes of ecological and infrastructural transformation, multispecies relationships, and the impact of change on human and non-human communities, inviting visitors into a poetic and immersive experience that blends real and imagined worlds. New commissions include a sound installation, video work, and a participatory structure encouraging audience storytelling

About the Artist

Mohammad Alfaraj (b.1993, lives and works in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans film, photography, sculpture, writing and installation. Growing up in Al-Ahsa, a desert oasis, Alfaraj’s art is deeply influenced by the region’s unique landscapes and traditions. His work often explores the relationship between humans, nature and the environment, drawing inspiration from local stories, oral traditions and everyday life. Alfaraj employs a diverse range of materials, including indigenous elements like palm fronds and dates, as well as found objects and waste, which hold spiritual significance and act as capsules of time and memory.