Phantom Punch: Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia, presented New England’s first exhibition of contemporary art from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at The Bates College Museum of Art  in Lewiston, Maine.

The artists featured in Phantom Punch create smart, topical, funny, culturally resonant, and  technically savvy work. Like Muhammad Ali’s surprising and lightning-fast 1965 knockout of Sonny Liston in Lewiston, experiencing this exhibition and related programing is a cultural  “Phantom Punch”, a complete surprise that American, Maine, and even Lewiston audiences  didn’t see coming.

The artists featured in Phantom Punch use an exciting variety of media — calligraphy, painting, sculpture, photography, video, performance, animation, and comedy — to explore topics and issues that shape the lives of Saudis throughout the Kingdom. These include the role of women and the place of foreign workers in Saudi society, the impact of oil on the Saudi  economy, the relationship between American popular culture and traditional Saudi values, and the effect of urbanization, globalization, and commercialization on Saudi cities.

Phantom Punch was produced by CULTURUNNERS.