The spaces of Jeddah, which are inlaid with international models and sculptures, are almost an open museum extending over the horizon, and the city is adorned with masterpieces of international art in the presence of more than 600 aesthetic models, such as the landmark Bicycle Square, which was designed by Julio Fonte, the Spanish architect, and Astronomy Square, which was designed in the 1980s in the form of the logo of galaxies and astronomy. Which floats in space, and Camel Square, which was designed by the sculptor Rabih Al-Akhras in the Obhur area, north of Jeddah. The people of Jeddah know the features of its squares more than the names of its streets, and the Camel, Astronomy, Bike, and Horse Squares have occupied a large place in the description of its streets over the past decades.
Sculptor Rabie Al-Akhras began making his artistic mark in 1983, planting the first statue embodying a living creature in Jeddah. Within 40 years, Al-Akhras beautified Jeddah with more than 30 statues and models.
Al-Akhras revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that he arrived in Jeddah after studying at the College of Fine Arts, specializing in “sculpture,” and he was attracted by the presence of models such as sculptures and iron works. He added: “I hoped that I could make a model in it, and my journey with aesthetic models began during the presence of Muhammad Saeed Al-Farsi as secretary of Jeddah.” He was a lover of art and beauty, and I created the first model in 1983, which was a horse on the Jeddah Corniche with a length of 12 metres, and the Arabian falcon five metres, and after that I designed camels and intermittent horses.”
Al-Akhras adds: “I went through a long history of change, and even during the past years I was not restricted as an artist, and I was doing what I saw fit with the nature and beauty of this city, from the intermittent horse sculptures in the eighties to the complete horse statue on the Jeddah Corniche two years ago as a witness to the intellectual and cultural sequence of this city.” Passing from the period of isolation and extremism to the openness that supports the arts and puts them in the right perspective.”
On the other hand, Al-Akhras stated that the cultural acceleration and change that the Kingdom is witnessing has directly affected the streets and the objects they contain, and he stated that the nature of the beauty of works of art does not necessarily have to be understood from the first moment because it will live for dozens of years and perhaps hundreds, and the concept of the artist within him remains to be discovered. Only part of it, as each generation will add another and new concept to work.