at the Frontline Club, I’ll be chairing an event all about Lt-Col Abdulnasser Gharem, featuring the great man himself.

Do come along. I think it will be interesting, not least because Gharem is such a good speaker. It’ll also be the first chance to see Abdulnasser Gharem, the book about his career so far that I’ve provided the text for.

The event is at 7pm on Tuesday 11th Oct. There’s much more on it here:

Alem are representing Saudi Arabia in this year’s Venice Biennale.

Am a big fan of their work (and their style). Here’s a clip that gives you a glimpse of their Venetian installation: http://bbc.in/indYlu

(Photo by Giampaolo Vimercati, copyright either him or Italian Vogue)

are going on a road trip. I can’t wait. By the time you read this I’ll have started my journey to Saudi Arabia (followed by a few days in Doha where I’ll be giving a talk). The point of the trip is to write about Lieutenant-Colonel Abdulnasser Gharem, a man who is, as well as being a senior military officer, Saudi Arabia’s leading contemporary artist.

Following a recent Christie’s sale he also became the most expensive living Arab artist. One of his works broke the record for the most paid at auction for an Arab artist (who is not dead).

So Gharem is a soldier and an artist. A quick question: apart from Rubens (diplomat + artist), Vermeer (wine merchant + artist), Vasari (biographer + artist), Kandinsky? (lawyer + artist?) can you think of other artists who have combined two careers?

price was paid last night for the work of the Saudi artist I’m currently writing about. Abdulnasser Gharem’s Message/Messenger went for $700,000 at the first Christie’s auction of the year in Dubai. Apparently this is the highest price ever paid at auction for the work of a living Arab artist.

His last work sold at Christie’s for just over $8,000.

Abdulnasser is also a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Saudi Arabian Army.

Here’s the piece:

Raja Alem, the brilliant Saudi novelist and artist, who has just won the Arabic Booker Prize for her novel The Dove’s Necklace. This is great, great news. I interviewed Raja with her sister Shadia for Edge of Arabia as they will often collaborate. Raja sometimes provides text for Shadia’s work, though that’s not a good way of putting it. Rather than one ‘providing’ for the other they combine as if twins, finishing each other’s sentences and often appearing in one another’s dreams.

Here they are long, long ago: