We explore the power and potency of memes in today's society with Abdullah Al Jahdhami, known online as @shaweesh_, an artist who contributed to the Memememememe at the media majlis museum. Al Jahdhami discusses his artistic practice, which involves disrupting and remixing historical and archival imagery, often by inserting pop culture icons to open a new dialogue. He shares the story behind his famous artwork of Yoda with King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, an image that ended up in a Saudi nationalism textbook. The artist explains how he uses these archival materials to question what shapes the identity of his generation and how his work, though joyful and funny, encourages people to understand why they are laughing. Al Jahdhami also touches on his process of repatriating historical objects by buying them back from eBay, and his latest works, which use original animation cels to combine Arab childhood memories of dubbed cartoons with scenes from the Gulf War. The conversation closes with his thoughts on the shifting art scene, where exhibitions are becoming an experience more than just "things on the wall".

00:00 Introduction

03:06 From Mechanical Engineering to Meme Artist

04:40 The Memememememe Exhibition and Archival Practice

06:55 The Yoda and King Faisal Meme

10:01 The New York Times, The Nationalism Textbook, and Viral Outrage

12:56 Selling Out Editions and Playful Disruption

13:39 Collaborating with Calligrapher Abbas Al Baghdadi

15:23 Remixing the Archive and Shaping Identity

17:55 Opening a New Dialogue with the Generation

19:55 Displacing Iconic Photos with Pop Culture

22:20 Pop Culture and the Albaik Art Piece

24:12 The Photo Etching Technique

26:46 Adding the Art to Newspapers

27:47 Art, Humor and Questioning Truth

32:15 Collages with Original Animation Cels

36:50 Repatriating History via eBay

39:36 Fictional City of Koraq and The Land of Black Gold

43:21 Impressions of the Memememememe Exhibition

44:48 Art Shows Becoming a Whole New Experience

Abdullah Al Jahdhami is a Riyadh-based mixed media artist born in 1990. His work examines cultural exchanges between Saudi Arabia and the world by merging visual art with elements of design. Influenced by the early internet era, he integrates symbols from Western pop culture into his pieces, initiating a cross-cultural dialogue. In his latest series, he reimagines figures like Captain America and Yoda within key moments of Saudi history, blending humor and critique. Rooted in personal memory, his love for cartoons and time spent collecting old newspapers in Riyadh, his work takes the form of digital collages that satirically recast cartoon icons as unlikely protagonists in the rewriting of national narratives.

Connect with Abdullah Al Jahdhami 👉 https://instagram.com/shaweesh_

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Theme music: Peninsular, Tarek Yamani 🔊 https://spoti.fi/47I59ns

FOLLOW & RATE THE MEDIA MAJLIS MUSEUM PODCAST:

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» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1056900096

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK

Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl6JKXIPDF5oHzzMEc_veM2n

FOLLOW & RATE THE MEDIA MAJLIS MUSEUM PODCAST:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/media-majlis-museum-podcast/id1763784587
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3p87MwQuJWOXG9X3h7NBuU
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1056900096

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl6JKXIPDF5oHzzMEc_veM2n

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
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