JEDDAH SOUVENIR T-SHIRTS

I saw these souvenir t-shirts at Bawadi souk. There were other styles and colors, including several styles bearing graphics of the different sculptures of Jeddah.

 

JEDDAH TOOL SCULPTURES

BUILDER'S PLUMBLINE - BY MUSTAFA SENBEL

"ENGINEER'S TOOLS" - PROTRACTOR, COMPASS & RULERS

"CONSTRUCTION TOOLS" - WHIMSICAL SAW AND WRENCH,

WHICH NO LONGER EXIST IN JEDDAH

ENJOYED THIS POST? 

SIGN UP FOR FUTURE POSTS DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR EMAIL BOX.

LINKING TO - CITY DAILY PHOTO  THEME DAY

SKYWATCH

SCULPTURES - NOW & THEN

THE HARSH CLIMATE OF JEDDAH REQUIRES SUITABLE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS FOR ITS MANY SCULPTURES. CONSTANT MAINTENANCE IS CALLED FOR - NECESSITATING REPAIRS, REFURBISHING OR REPAINTING. WITH CHANGES TO ROADWAYS AROUND THE CITY, SOME SCULPTURES HAVE BEEN RELOCATED. OTHERS HAVE JUST DISAPPEARED.

THIS COLORFUL BOAT SCULPTURE IS LOCATED IN THE OBHUR DISTRICT OF JEDDAH. ABOVE IS HOW IT APPEARS TODAY. I POSTED THE BELOW PHOTO OF THE SAME SCULPTURE BACK IN 2009 WHEN IT HAD A RED, WHITE AND BLUE COLOR PALETTE.  

THIS SCULPTURE IS CALLED THE SHAHADAT AL TAWHID. THE CORNICHE AREA ALONG THE RED SEA WHERE IT IS LOCATED WAS COMPLETELY REDONE SEVERAL YEARS AGO. ABOVE IS HOW IT APPEARS TODAY.  THE TWO PHOTOS BELOW WERE TAKEN BY ME IN 2010 FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES.  

THE SHAHADA IS A PHRASE IN ARABIC RECITED BY EVERY MUSLIM PROFESSING THEIR MONOTHEISTIC BELIEF THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD.  THIS SCULPTURE WAS MADE BY SPANISH ARTIST JULIO LAFUENTE, WHO DID NOT READ OR SPEAK ARABIC HIMSELF.

ENJOYED THIS POST? 

SIGN UP FOR FUTURE POSTS DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR EMAIL BOX.

LINKING TO - 

SOUVENIRS

ALL SEASONS

 

TEMPORARY CONSTRUCTION MURALS

ARTWORK FEATURING LANDMARKS AND SCULPTURES AROUND JEDDAH

MURALS SET UP AS TEMPORARY BARRIERS HIDING CONSTRUCTION MESS

ENJOYED THIS POST? 

SIGN UP FOR FUTURE POSTS DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR EMAIL BOX.

LINKING TO - 

MOSAIC MONDAYS

SOUVENIRS

ALL SEASONS

MONDAY MURALS

 

CLEAR BLUE SKIES

ENJOYED THIS POST? 

SIGN UP FOR FUTURE POSTS DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR EMAIL BOX.

LINKING TO - SKYWATCH

TIMELESS THURSDAYS

THANKFUL THURSDAY

 

PUBLIC ART OF JEDDAH

THE ILLUMINATED GLOBE - BY JULIO LAFUENTE

THE ACCIDENT - BY JULIO LAFUENTE

SCIENCE & RELIGION - BY JULIO LAFUENTE

THE VERSE BOAT - BY JULIO LAFUENTE

STALKS OF WHEAT - BY SALAH ABDULKARIM

THE LIGHTHOUSE (ALSO KNOWN AS THE MILKCAN)

FAMILY

LINKING TO - ALL SEASONS

 

Modern Sculpture in Jeddah

Many of my photos here in Jeddah are taken from a moving vehicle - and because my husband usually drives pretty fast, I end up deleting a lot of my photos once I go through them.  While this isn't a great photo, I just really liked how this one turned out - the sun and light clouds in the sky and the colorful sun effect on the modern sculpture.

To  visit MORE friendly skies around the world, fly on over to SKYWATCH  where you’ll find beautiful skies posted by bloggers all over the world.

Jeddah's Dallah Fountain

This well known fountain on Sultan Road in Jeddah consists of more than 20 dallah coffee pots arranged on pedestals at varying heights.  I've actually seen it functioning as a fountain a few times but most often it's not operating.  It's difficult to get a good photo of it because of its location in the middle of the road separating the lanes of traffic. 
To see a better photo than this one and to learn more about the fountain itself, CLICK HERE. 

Jeddah Boat Sculpture - Now Gone

Jeddah is home to hundreds of works of art that grace the landscape of the city.  Many of the sculptures used to occupy the space in the center of traffic circles, many of which have been replaced in recent years with bridges, tunnels, or normal intersections with stoplights.  Some of the sculptures have been moved to different spots off to the side in the same intersection or to totally different locations around Jeddah.  Still other sculptures have not survived, like this one. 
This boat sculpture was one of the largest sculptures of this metropolis on the Red Sea. The ship's sails actually spelled "Allah."
I have to admit, this sculpture was not one of my favorites, so I'm not too torn up about it being gone now.  I found it odd looking and when it needed to be repainted, it looked pretty tacky.   

Artwork in Jeddah

A horse sculpture and "The Accident" - two sculptures located along Jeddah's Corniche. The Accident was being refurbished. I'll post a photo of the finished project soon.

Jeddah Sculpture - The Rocket

Al Saroukh - "The Rocket" - is one of two similarly themed sculptures created by Salah Abdulkarim, who created about a dozen of the most graceful artworks for the City of Jeddah in the 1970s and 80s. Much of his work is derived from his interpretations of verses from the Quran and makes use of large scale scraps of iron, steel and bronze. 

Among his other contributions around the city are The Mameluke Minarets and Stalks of Wheat.  He was also responsible for the huge mosaic tile mound depicting the solar system which was the base for the famous Jeddah sculpture called The Cosmos. Unfortunately the mosaic artwork no longer exists, as the roundabout it was located in has been dismantled and replaced with a bridge.

The photo below gives you an idea of the sculpture in its natural setting and its close proximity to the Red Sea.

Sculpture of Engineer's Tools in Jeddah

One of Jeddah's still remaining roundabouts sports a sculpture called Engineer's Tools.  The giant sized instruments for measuring that it features include a compass, a protractor, and rulers.  You can see a better photo of this sculpture by clicking HERE.

Jeddah Huge Bicycle Sculpture

One of Jeddah's most well known sculptures is The Bicycle.  Soaring to a height of 15 meters, the piece of art is made of scrap metal and is the work of Spanish architect and sculptor Julio Lafuente.  For many years, the sculpture was located in the middle of a huge busy traffic circle and sat on top of an enormous mound.  However due to severe traffic congestion, most of the traffic circles in the city of Jeddah have been eliminated in recent years and replaced with a system of overpasses or tunnels for more efficient and smoother traffic flow.  The Bicycle is still located at the same crossroads as before but it now sits next to a bridge.  It is elevated by several supports at each wheel, preventing people from climbing up on to it. 

Jeddah Airplane Sculpture Facelift

Recently this yellow airplane sculpture received a facelift. The harsh climate and elements of the region - like blowing sand, extreme heat, sea air, wind, and lack of rain - take their toll on everything here, requiring regular maintenance.  Some Jeddah sculptures have not faired so well and have literally crumbled and don't exist any more.  I rather like the fresh paint and the new blue color of the base mount.

Jeddah Sculpture - The Cosmos

Many enormous sculptures were placed around Jeddah in the middle of huge traffic circles since the 1970s. However with the steady population growth of this city since then, these traffic circles became burdensome, dangerous, and inefficient for traffic flow.  So in recent years, the traffic circles have been dismantled one by one and have been replaced with a system of normal intersections, bridges, or tunnels. 

The intersection where the Cosmos is located is still under construction. The ginormous mound base on which it stood for many years is now gone, replaced now with an overpass.  The mound was covered with millions of pieces of colorful mosaic tiles depicting the solar system.  The Cosmos is one of the largest sculptures in the world and was the work of German sculptor Ottmar Hollmann. It represents orbits, galaxies, and planets.  For more information about The Cosmos, CLICK HERE. 

Our World - Jeddah - New Artwork in Al Balad

This colorful new art installation in Jeddah's Al Balad adds a bit of pizzazz and whimsy to the oldest part of the city.  It appears to be built of painted wood.  Geometric / tribal patterns are common and cultural here in Saudi Arabia.

Be sure to visit OUR WORLD TUESDAY, where family-friendly bloggers share a unique glimpse into what life is like all around our ever-amazing planet.

This post is also linked to Travel Tuesday.

Jeddah's Honeycomb Sculpture

The Honeycomb sculpture sits in the middle of a roundabout of Jeddah. It appears to be made of concrete.  Named The Honeycomb for obvious reasons, this sculpture resembles a cross section of the hexagon shaped wax inside a beehive.  

Honey is very popular in this region of the world, and can be bought by the kilo or complete with the honeycomb, as I posted a while back on my blog in this post.