BODYS ISEK KINGELEZ – CITY DREAMS (个展)

Earlier this year, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS), the effective ruler of Saudi Arabia, went on a diplomatic tour of the United Kingdom and the United States. His aim was to rebrand the Saudi monarchy as an enlightened, reforming institution, and to attract the Western investment that his country desperately needs if it is to end its dependence on oil. On his trip, MBS not only shook hands with Donald Trump and Theresa May, but also met with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, actor Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and Disney CEO Bob Iger. Media coverage, on the whole, was credulously positive, as the supposed young reformer was held up as the new bright hope for Saudi Arabia, and perhaps for the Middle East itself. – 今年早些时候，沙特阿拉伯的有效统治者穆罕默德·本·萨尔曼王储（MBS）对英国和美国进行了外交访问。他的目标是重塑沙特君主制为一个开明的、改革的机构，并吸引西方投资，如果沙特要结束对石油的依赖，西方国家就迫切需要这些投资。在访问期间，MBS不仅与唐纳德·特朗普和特丽莎·梅握手，还与Facebook的马克·扎克伯格、演员德韦恩·约翰逊、迪斯尼的CEO鲍勃·伊格尔会面。总的来说，媒体报道是令人信服的积极的，因为这位所谓的年轻改革者被视作沙特阿拉伯，或许还有中东的新希望。