Safeya Binzagr (Arabic: صفية بن زقر; 1940 – 12 September 2024) was a Saudi Arabian artist, active in the art scene of Jeddah.[1] Binzagr opened her own museum and gallery, the Darat Safeya Binzagr in 2000.[2] She was the only artist in her country to have their own museum.[3]
Binzagr was born in 1940 to a "well-known merchant family" in Jeddah.[4] She was privately taught art in Egypt and went on to earn a degree from St Martin's School of Art in 1965.[2]
Binzagr died on 12 September 2024, at the age of 84.[5]
Binzagr's first exhibition took place in 1968.[6] In 1970, she was the first woman to hold a solo exhibition of her work in Saudi Arabia.[7] Despite her art being presented, Binzagr was not allowed to attend the openings of her own exhibitions until Aramco held a private exhibition of her work in 1976.[8] She was instead represented by male members of her family.[8] In 1973, she chose to stop selling her art.[9] In 1979, Binzagr published a book about Saudi Arabian art called Saudi Arabia, An Artist's View of the Past.[4] The book has been translated into English and French.[10]
Her work uses various mediums, ranging from oil paint, watercolor, pastel, drawing and etchings,[4] and often centers around daily life in Saudi Arabia.[4] She has series of works based on themes such as marriage customs, local costumes and old homes in Saudi Arabia.[11] Binzagr paints cultural themes in order to preserve the cultural traditions of her country.[11] Some of her paintings are based on descriptions given to her by older women about their lives.[12] Binzagr meticulously researches her paintings, either by capturing through photographs images of buildings, craftwork and neighborhoods or by looking through historic documents and photography.[11] Much of the history she has recorded belongs to the Hejaz cultural tradition.[10]
Binzagr's work can be seen in her museum, the Darat Safeya Binzagr, where admission is free.[13] She started to imagine a place where she could permanently display and curate her work in 1989.[14] The museum took about nine years of planning and construction and was opened in 2000.[11] The museum serves as her home, her studio, and as a gallery of her work.[15] Binzagr hosted public events at her museum to promote art in Saudi Arabia.[10]