Subodh Gupta’s Family Tree Takes Root in Riyadh

Indian artist Subodh Gupta’s monumental stainless-steel sculpture joined Riyadh Art’s Permanent Collection, transforming familiar objects of domestic life into a public work about migration, memory and change.

There is something instantly familiar about Subodh Gupta’s work. Pots, pans, tiffin boxes, milk pails and other everyday objects that belong to kitchens and homes across India are repeatedly taken out of their ordinary context and assembled into works of unexpected scale.

Now, one such work has found a permanent home in Riyadh.

Family Tree (2020), Subodh Gupta’s large-scale stainless-steel sculpture, has been installed at the arrival plaza of the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD). Making its debut in the Saudi capital, the work is now part of the Riyadh Art Permanent Collection, a growing citywide collection bringing contemporary art into public spaces across Riyadh.

A Tree Built From Everyday Life

Taking the form of the peepal, or bodhi tree, Family Tree is constructed from stainless steel and familiar household utensils. Tiffin boxes, thali pans and milk pails come together to form a branching sculptural structure.

The choice of the tree is significant. Across South Asia, the peepal tree carries layers of cultural and spiritual meaning. Gupta translates this organic and symbolic form into metal, creating a work that is both monumental and rooted in the objects of ordinary life.

The domestic utensils that make up the sculpture are characteristic of Gupta’s practice. Through them, he explores questions around sustenance, labour, migration and economic transformation. Objects that are normally handled, washed, stacked and used every day become part of a larger narrative about movement and social change.

Installed within the contemporary urban setting of KAFD, the sculpture creates an interesting tension between the familiarity of its individual components and the scale of the final work. It becomes both a landmark within the district and a place around which people can gather, pause and reflect.

“Family Tree reflects the power of art to connect people through familiar materials and shared experiences,” says Architect Badr Shenafi, Senior Director of Riyadh Art. “By bringing a work of this scale and significance to the capital, Riyadh Art continues to strengthen the presence of contemporary art within the city’s public spaces and everyday urban experience.”

Art Across the City

The installation of Family Tree is part of Riyadh Art’s ambition to make contemporary art part of the daily experience of the city.

Led by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, Riyadh Art was launched in 2019 and is one of Riyadh’s four original mega projects under Vision 2030. Its Permanent Collection brings together commissioned and acquired works by Saudi and international artists, placed across neighbourhoods, public spaces and routes of movement.

To date, Riyadh Art has installed 75 artworks across the city as part of the Permanent Collection, with further installations planned through 2026 and beyond. Through its annual festivals, Noor Riyadh and Tuwaiq Sculpture, the programme has presented more than 580 works across the capital and attracted over 17.3 million visitors and spectators.

The Permanent Collection includes works by artists including Manal AlDowayan, Mohammed Al Saleem, El Anatsui, Alexander Calder, Janet Echelman, Ryoji Ikeda, Anish Kapoor, Anselm Kiefer, Idris Khan, Jeff Koons, Giuseppe Penone and Ugo Rondinone, among others.

Subodh Gupta’s Transformation of the Ordinary

Born in Bihar in 1964, Subodh Gupta’s creative life in theatre began before studying painting at the College of Art in Patna. After moving to New Delhi, his practice expanded into sculpture, installation, photography, video and performance.

He is best known for his use of stainless-steel kitchen utensils and domestic objects associated with everyday life in India. In Gupta’s work, these objects become vehicles for examining cultural identity, migration, globalisation and economic transformation.

His works often sit between apparent opposites: tradition and modernity, abundance and scarcity, and deeply local experiences that have entered global circulation.

Subodh Gupta’s works are also displayed across Doha as part of Qatar Museum’s Public Art installations.

With Family Tree, these ideas move into the public realm of Riyadh. The sculpture carries with it the memories of kitchens, meals, families and movement, while its scale allows those intimate references to become part of the experience of a rapidly changing city.

In a financial district defined by contemporary towers and new infrastructure, Subodh Gupta’s tree introduces another kind of monument, one built from the objects of everyday life.