Among the exhibitions, “Khamseen” stands out as the most expansive, according to Alexandra Roy, Sotheby’s Head of Sale, Modern and Contemporary Middle East. This showcase, created in collaboration with Jeddah’s Hafez Gallery and its founder, Qaswra Hafez, presents a diverse array of works spanning from the 1960s to the present, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, and installations. “We’ve known Qaswra Hafez for a long time, and this has been a project that he’s been thinking about doing for a while,” Roy shared. “It’s very much overdue.

There have been some amazing shows in London on Saudi visual culture, and of course, a lot is happening in the Kingdom right now. It’s an amazing moment to be part of that.”

The exhibition is part of Sotheby’s ongoing involvement with Saudi Arabia’s art scene, having previously participated in the Kingdom’s two art biennales. “We have 60 artists represented, and it’s the first time some of these works have ever been seen. We go back to circa 1965, and it’s been difficult to source works from as early as that, but we really wanted to show work from the pioneers,” Roy explained. She emphasized that “Khamseen” is just an introductory exhibition, expressing hope that it will lead to deeper explorations in the future.

Another highlight of “Hafla” is the collaboration with UK luxury brand Asprey and Saudi jewelry house Nuun, founded by Princess Nourah Alfaisal. This partnership has produced a capsule collection of handbags inspired by Saudi Arabia’s five major regions. “We’ve been in touch with Princess Nourah for a number of years. She’s such an interesting personality who has a wide variety of personal projects,” said Sophie Stevens, Director and Jewelry Specialist MENA for Sotheby’s. “She’s a very, very prominent figure in the Saudi cultural scene. She was enormously excited when she heard about this exhibition because it’s a great platform to speak about those initiatives.”

The luxury segment of “Hafla” also includes a collaboration with A2Z, founded by Abdulrahman Al-Zayani, recognized as the Gulf’s leading jewelry and art advisor.

“We’re taking over the Sotheby’s salon space on New Bond Street, and we’re going to be exhibiting about 140 pieces that are inspired by Eastern design or have some kind of connection,” Stevens explained.

The final component of “Hafla” is the display of 28 Qur’anic and calligraphic works from the Bashir Mohamed Family Collection. These pieces, ranging from the 9th century to the contemporary era, showcase the evolution of Islamic script and regional identity. Frankie Keyworth, an Islamic and Indian art specialist, highlighted a bifolio from the Blue Qur’an and an illuminated firman from the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent as particularly noteworthy. Keyworth said, “We’ve seen individual leaves from the (Blue Qur’an) come to auction or appear in exhibitions, but having a bifolio is really exciting because it truly shows its scale and just how impressive it was.”

The timing of “Hafla” is significant, as it comes during a period of civil unrest in the UK, driven largely by right-wing groups promoting Islamophobia. Although planned well in advance, the event offers a timely opportunity for cultural exchange and understanding by celebrating Middle Eastern culture. “I think it’s hugely important and a very impactful way to open up greater exchanges and cultural understanding,” Stevens remarked, emphasizing the value of the educational initiatives that accompany the exhibitions.

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What is Hafla and how has your journey been, till the point where you wanted to start it?

Hafla is a one-stop shop for event organizers to book everything needed for organizing events, and a business management platform for event industry suppliers to list services and generate business. We started Hafla because we believe there is no simple and trusted way to find and book the 4 essential elements of an event, which include venues, equipment, and catering.

Hafla’s purpose is to simplify event planning so that everyone can celebrate more. In 9 months, we have engaged in conversations with about 8000 event planners and delivered 2500 events. The journey has been very exciting with hundreds of customers sharing very positive feedback and placing repeat orders.

How does Hafla differentiate itself from the generic event suppliers?
Hafla has three key differences compared to a generic event planner.

Scale: We deal with more than 500 new event requests every week and deliver hundreds of events each month. We have built a strategic process and the right team to manage high volumes (50+ team members to date).
 A typical event planner can not handle such a scale.

Tailored service: With Hafla, you can order things fully online for simple requirements (e.g., renting a bouncy castle, or booking a magic show) or work with event specialists to customize your event. With a typical event supplier, you engage only in complex custom events.

We provide technology to both customers and event industry suppliers, including event planners. For example, we are building AI recommendation engines to provide event design and solutions to find the best solution matching the needs of customers.

In simple terms, Hafla is like Expedia, and an event supplier is like an airline.

How do you fit in well with luxurious and bespoke events?

Luxurious and bespoke events need three main aspects for guests to have a memorable experience those aspects are: creativity, novelty, and quality.

Team Hafla works with more than 750 event suppliers and has an internal algorithm to identify which partners can provide the required creativity and quality. Furthermore, we bring novelty products, entertainment, and F&B ideas that the organizers themselves may not be able to imagine and/or source.

Which industry segments do you see Hafla growing towards?

We are witnessing high growth across social as well as corporate events. Birthday parties are the most frequently done event type but Hafla has also served more than 500 corporates for their events.

Anything that you would like to add?

We are focusing on building the product (technical) and processes to quickly reach 1000+ events per day while maintaining a top-notch experience. By the end of 2022, we will enable 10,000+ events and set the stage for 50,000 events next year. We are also working on launching Hafla services in Saudi Arabia later in the year.

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