Aseel AlYaqoub has been awarded the seventh Ithra Art Prize for Flora Incognita (2026), a speculative herbarium of hybrid plant forms that explores how botanical records have shaped perceptions of the Gulf. The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) announced the winning project during a ceremony in Dhahran, where the prize was presented as part of the institution’s ongoing support for contemporary artistic practices in the region.
As part of the Ithra Art Prize, AlYaqoub received a USD 100,000 grant, with Flora Incognita also joining Ithra’s permanent collection. The work is currently on view at the Ithra Museum as part of an exhibition bringing together the five shortlisted projects. These include AlYaqoub’s Flora Incognita alongside Bady Dalloul’s miniature Matchboxes Drawings (2026), which examines imagery and collective memory; Heba Y Amin Elmahamly’s reworking of the historical Mahmal procession in The Last Carrier: Iteration I (2026); Ala Younis’ Lifted Arches (2026), which brings Islamic architectural traditions into dialogue with modernism; and Jawad Al Malhi’s Ashes of Absence (2026), which addresses disappearance and loss through a multimedia presentation.
The winning project was selected by a five-member international jury, including Farah Abushullaih, Tarek Abou El Fetouh, Dr Nada Shabout, Jérôme Sans and Nadia Kaabi-Linke.
Farah Abushullaih, the programmes manager at Ithra, noted: “The prize serves as a vital platform, bringing innovative ideas and artistic visions into dialogue and shaping the future of contemporary art in the region. By celebrating Aseel AlYaqoub, we are investing in a vision that disrupts conventional narratives and elevates the Saudi cultural landscape to new intellectual heights.”
The seventh edition also builds on the programme’s scope by supporting each of the five finalists with production funds, allowing them to create new projects responding to the region’s shifting histories and realities.
