NewsVoir
Riyadh [Saudi Arabia], June 15: Riyadh Art has announced the installation of Family Tree (2020) by Indian contemporary artist Subodh Gupta, now on view at the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) arrival plaza in Riyadh. The artwork makes its Riyadh debut, marking the first time it has been displayed in the city. The work enters the Riyadh Art Permanent Collection as part of the program's ongoing mission to integrate art into daily life across the city.
Constructed from stainless steel and everyday household utensils, the large-scale sculpture takes the form of a peepal, or bodhi, tree, a species associated with cultural and spiritual significance across South Asia. By translating an organic form into metal and everyday domestic objects, Gupta repositions the tree within a contemporary, secular context.
The work brings together objects commonly linked to domestic life, including tiffin boxes, thali pans, and milk pails, into a branching sculptural structure that reflects sustenance, migration, labour, and economic transformation. Installed within one of Riyadh's key urban districts, Family Tree engages directly in its surrounding environment, creating both a public landmark and a place for gathering and reflection.
"Family Tree reflects the power of art to connect people through familiar materials and shared experiences," said Architect Badr Shenafi, Senior Director of Riyadh Art. "By bringing a work of this scale and significance to the capital, Riyadh Art continues to strengthen the presence of contemporary art within the city's public spaces and everyday urban experience."
Subodh Gupta (b. 1964) is an Indian contemporary artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans sculpture, installation, painting, photography, video, and performance. Born in Bihar, India, Gupta spent his early years traveling with a theatre group before studying painting at the College of Art in Patna, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. After relocating to New Delhi, his practice expanded beyond painting into three-dimensional and installation-based work.
Gupta is widely known for incorporating stainless steel kitchen utensils and other objects associated with domestic life in India into his work. Through these familiar materials, he examines themes of cultural identity, migration, globalization, and economic transformation. His work reflects the relationship between tradition and modernity, abundance and scarcity, and local experience and global circulation. Gupta has exhibited internationally in major museums, biennales, and public art contexts, and his work is held in prominent public and private collections worldwide.
Family Tree forms part of the Riyadh Art Permanent Collection, a growing citywide collection of public artworks installed across Riyadh's neighbourhoods, public spaces, and routes of movement. Led by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, Riyadh Art is one of the world's largest public art programs and one of Riyadh's four original mega projects under Vision 2030.
Since its launch in 2019, Riyadh Art has installed 75 artworks across the city as part of the Permanent Collection, with further artworks planned for installation throughout 2026 and beyond. Across its annual festivals, Noor Riyadh and Tuwaiq Sculpture, Riyadh Art has showcased more than 580 works in multiple locations around the capital, attracting more than 17.3 million visitors and spectators to date.
Through works such as Family Tree, Riyadh Art continues to support the development of a public art collection that contributes to Riyadh's cultural landscape and public realm.
About Riyadh Art
Riyadh Art is one of Riyadh's four original mega projects under Vision 2030 and is led by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City. Launched in 2019, Riyadh Art was developed to support the capital's transformation, enrich lives, and encourage creative expression and cross-cultural dialogue through public art. The Riyadh Art Permanent Collection brings together commissioned and acquired works by Saudi and international artists, installed across public spaces and shaped by their surroundings and by the movement of people through the city. The collection includes works by leading Saudi and international artists, contributing to Riyadh's growing creative landscape and supporting the development of a more beautiful, accessible, and culturally engaged city.
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