Kohler returns to Index Saudi Arabia to celebrate art, design, and innovation.
Photo: Courtesy of Kohler
For centuries, the arts have meant many things to many people. A platform to defy expectations and define perspectives. A canvas for self-expression and solace, for curiosity and creativity. A stage for both shaping and reflecting cultures, whether chronicling the past or molding the future. And in equal measure, a way to add beauty and meaning to one’s surroundings. As part of the Create with Kohler initiative, a commitment to just these tenets takes center stage, expanding on its 100+ years of supporting and celebrating artists and their craft.
Photo: Courtesy of Kohler
This year, Kohler Co. will be returning to the Index Saudi Arabia interior design and furniture exhibition in Riyadh to commemorate that vision from the 17th to the 19th of September, 2024. Kohler will showcase its varying design palettes from its brands like Kohler, KALLISTA, and KAST along with innovative curations in collaboration with global design studio Yabu Pushelberg.
Photo: Courtesy of Kohler
Furthermore, to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Kohler is giving artists and designers a chance to produce singular works in partnership with Kohler’s industrial design and fabrication teams. Create with Kohler is a one-of-a-kind program. From initial concepts to final stages, the brand collaborates closely with participants to fashion an enduring statement of beauty and style. Originality forms the starting point, and a vision is brought to vibrant life at the crossing of the finish line. Kohler is bold, artful, and the creative soul of the kitchen and bath industry, pushing boundaries in surprising ways that are evident in past collaborations, and this initiative to promote Saudi arts is just that. This regional initiative may eventually develop into a full-fledged Create with Kohler program in the future in the KSA.
Photo: Courtesy of Kohler
The program was inspired by Kohler’s Artist Editions sinks—pieces that are handcrafted by a small team of artisans in Kohler, Wisconsin, merging techniques and materials drawn from across the world. Setting its sights on Saudi Arabia for its next global collaboration, the brand is teaming up with Vogue Arabia to highlight the spirit of the kingdom and the fascinating interplay of art, design, and culture that flourishes within the region as a whole. Engaging its creative community, Kohler partnered with artists from Saudi Arabia for designs that showcase local arts and traditions—all while being a vivid ode to the country’s heritage, and staying true to the company’s values of design, well-being, innovation, inclusion, and sustainability. Read on to find out more about the artists profiled.
Tagreed Albagshi
Photo: Abeer Ahmed
Saudi artist Tagreed Albagshi looked to scenes of nature in full bloom for her collaboration with Kohler. Throughout her artistic process, she focused on elements of authenticity and creativity, linking them to daily life “and the impact of situations on us, the reaction to each situation, and how we shape our existence and build our authentic personality that reflects who we are.” Interpreting this into vibrant depictions that portray the sky, clouds, birds, and palm trees, Albagshi’s overall creative vision stemmed from “listening to ourselves to make everything unique and distinctive. Inspiration is inherent in the human psyche,” she says.
Photo: Abeer Ahmed
As she sets about highlighting the imaginative, inventive spirit of Saudi Arabia, Albagshi wants the Create with Kohler piece she crafted to be perceived with the same depth she sees in the people around her. “I want my audience to see this piece as an expression of the human being and the emotions we are filled with,” she says. Aligning with Kohler’s mission of spotlighting the interaction between creativity, design, and culture that thrives inside the region’s diverse landscape, the artist underscores the value of innovation. “I consider it an essential part of our creative community, maintaining it and promoting a culture of change that is consistent with the developmental inputs and the formation of a unique personality. The message is: I am an artist; I am a creative.”
Heba Ismail
Photo: Abeer Ahmed
The first Saudi artist to have work featured in Web3 World, Heba Ismail unifies elements of cubism and fauvism in her creations, while also drawing on her Saudi heritage throughout the process. Ismail looked to the curves and colors on Kohler designs for inspiration for her Create with Kohler piece. “As an artist, I see beauty in everything, so Kohler’s futuristic yet classic designs inspired me,” she says. “My vision was to create a piece that shows the delicate, fragile, yet colorful soul connections between people.”
Photo: Abeer Ahmed
Ismail translated this concept by tapping into feelings rather than just an idea. This process was enriched through the role models in her life, as well as her experience as a dentist: “It taught me to give so much attention to detail, and the artist in me chooses to leave clues in those details that tell a beautiful story shown on a painting,” she says. “My mother and father are both into history and arts, and these for me are the two most beautiful things you can connect together. They saw my talent from an early age, and they nurtured it and always gave me the freedom to be myself with no fear, and in my opinion that is the most important thing to see in an artist, themselves.”
The artist credits values that resonate across Kohler and her community for an alignment that underlies her approach to creativity. “I believe the Saudi community appreciates quality more than anything, and Kohler offers both quality and beauty,” she says. Ismail envisions her vibrant play on colors and shapes to engage on an intimate scale. “I want the audience to perceive this piece on a personal level, for that is the purpose of art—to not tell you how you feel but rather to show you.”
