Jeddah as Never Seen Before.. How a Young "Girl" Captured the Features of a Saudi City?

- In a room that initially appears to be a private space for a young girl, Iraqi artist Makhlad Habib chose to encapsulate the features of the city of Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its cultural and social transformations. In his painting "Girl of Jeddah," he did not just depict a young Saudi character, but built around her a world where details of daily life coexist with elements of the Kingdom's culture.

Habib presented this painting at the second edition of the international exhibition "You Are Different," which was held at the Saudi Center for Fine Arts in Jeddah, with the participation of 55 artists from ten Arab countries. Habib chose to directly connect the work to the city that hosted the exhibition and to address its audience through a character that represents, in his view, a new generation of Saudi women.

In an interview with the Arabic news site Afaq News, Habib explained that the choice of the title "Girl of Jeddah" was linked to both the place and the audience, clarifying that he wanted to present a work "that speaks directly to the people of the city and creates an emotional connection with the local audience." Hence, the young woman in the painting serves as an entry point to Jeddah itself, carrying with it memory, heritage, creativity, and contemporary life.

The most prominent elements present in the space surrounding the character accumulate details inspired by Saudi and Hijazi culture, such as traditional patterns, textiles, handicrafts, lanterns, books, and decorative elements. However, the most significant element in the composition of the painting remains the "Hijazi Roshin," which is the traditional wooden window that stands behind the girl, visually opening up to another face of the city.

Through the Roshin, Jeddah appears from the outside: the sea, palm trees, boats, and the sunset light, alongside its modern urban skyline. Habib saw this element as a visual bridge between the traditional identity of the city and its contemporary life, so that Jeddah in the painting does not seem confined to its past, nor disconnected from the transformations it is witnessing today.

The book that the girl is reading is not a trivial detail, as he chose to be one of the works of the Saudi writer and thinker Ghazi Al-Qusaibi, one of the most prominent literary and intellectual figures in Saudi Arabia, with the desire to introduce a familiar and close element to the Saudi audience into the scene. Habib explained that he deliberately chose this particular book because it is one of the books that a large number of Saudi women have read.

The girl embodies, according to the Iraqi artist, a new generation of Saudi women who are connected to their heritage and culture, but at the same time look towards the future. In his vision, the woman carries dreams and ambitions, and lives in a world where options and opportunities are expanding before her, whether in expressing herself or choosing her professional and personal path.

The choice of colors is not separate from this vision; Habib relied on a bright and vibrant color palette, using a technique different from traditional brush painting. He resorted to liquid acrylic pens that, according to him, gave him greater freedom and control in executing the fine details that fill the work.

After finishing the painting, he covered the canvas with several layers of matte varnish to protect it and give its surface a smooth appearance, while highlighting the vibrancy of the colors. For Habib, 'The Girl of Jeddah' does not merely represent an image of a woman or even a portrait of a city, but is an attempt to read Jeddah through its culture, its people, its memory, and its modernity.