Saudi Arabia's new Venice exhibition rewrites the history of maps

The Saudi Ministry of Culture announces A Necessary Fiction: Maps, Art, and Models of Our World, a new exhibition at the Abbazia di San Gregorio in Venice on view from May 6 to November 22. The exhibition is curated by an international team, led by Sara Almutlaq and Aurora Fonda with associate curators Zaira Carrer and Amina Diab. A Necessary Fiction is a journey through territories in constant flux, where historical maps—dating from the thirteenth century to the present—serve as a lens through which to examine our enduring need to create models of the world. These models offer fantastic mythological visions and imaginative interpretations of scientific inquiry throughout the ages to the present day. The curators, working in close collaboration with exhibition designers Ibrahim Kombarji and Bianca Pedron, create a dynamic perspective on cartography