Alia Ahmad, Hong Kong (2026)

Traversing the cycles of transformation shaping the desert landscape of Riyadh and its surrounds, Alia Ahmad’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong, ‘In Time, A Bloom / مع الوقت، تزهر’ explores the emotional, cultural and historical complexity of her homeland. In thick accretions of oil and gauzy ink washes, Ahmad conjures scenes of elegiac reverie, casting the desert plane as a witness to the aspirations of civilisations across time. As Ahmad notes, this is a ‘territory shaped by ambition throughout the ages – from traversing Bedouins, religious pilgrimage, and resource-driven exploration to modern-day conflict. The arid expanses became the theatre of many ambitions. It has witnessed such enterprises evolve, transform, fade, and re-emerge with new faces and newer tools. And through all of this, the flower still blooms.’ In the accompanying essay, ‘A Total Flower’, writer Mirene Arsanios explores how Ahmad’s unique gestural language captures the mutability of the land as a site of movement, memory and survival.