Thurayya

Thurayya highlights the longstanding relationship between the people of Riyadh and the striking, unobstructed desert sky.
Often thought of as merely a pleasing sight to the average onlooker, the constellations historically served a purpose for Arabs by acting as a guiding tool, which led to significant advances in the field of astronomy. Using constellations continued to be a living practice until only two or three generations ago.
For this work, the main constellation depicted is the famous kaff ath-Thurayyā star cluster (“Hands of Thurayya”). The legend of the cluster tells the story of a beautiful girl named Thurayya who happened to catch the eye of Ad-dabran who, to this day, continues to follow her with his modest offering of twenty camels(القلائص)
By mapping out the brightest stars within the installation, Madhawi AlGwaiz’s installation helps the viewer understand how the stars were used as a navigation tool. Thurayya also evokes the strange, yet grounding feeling of realizing one’s insignificance within the universe, often inspired by an unobstructed night sky chock-full of stars.