Coronavirus: Saudi artist runs out of canvases, paints furniture amid lockdown

When Saudi Arabia announced a lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, artist Nahla al-Ghufaily quickly found herself running out of canvases to paint on, so she turned to what was readily available around her: furniture.

“What happened to me when we were on lockdown is that I didn’t have any more canvases and no shop was able to deliver to me,” al-Ghufaily told Al Arabiya.

“So, I decided to use my furniture and change its look. I started designing and looking for ways to spread the colors and preserve them on the furniture,” she added.

al-Ghufaily said that her main effort was to show everyone that staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic was beneficial to the individual and the society as a whole despite the challenges posed due to the recent lockdown restrictions and curfews imposed.

“We don’t want to “have minimal damage” [during the lockdown]. On the contrary, we want to have maximum achievements and creativity,” she added.

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Saudi Arabia has partially lifted the curfew restrictions it imposed across the Kingdom starting April 26 while maintaining a full lockdown on Mecca and previously isolated neighborhoods. The announcement at the time confirmed that public movement would resume from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day until May 13, the twentieth day of Ramadan.

Artists across Saudi Arabia have seen a resurgence in attention being paid to their craft in recent months as the Kingdom places efforts in recognizing and highlighting artistic achievements.