Saudi Arabia’s first contemporary art biennale, Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, will take place in December. The Diriyah Biennale Foundation has released the list of participating artists for the art biennale. The list includes 63 artists, mostly from Saudi Arabia and China, as well names from the US, Kuwait, Germany, Syria, Egypt, Ireland and Kenya.
A team of international curators led by Philip Tinari have put together a programme with six sections under the theme Feeling the Stones, inspired by the slogan “crossing the river by feeling the stones”, which was developed by Chinese politician Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s in reference to taking action during times of social and economic transformation.
The biennale will take place from December 11 to March 11, 2022 at the JAX District in Diriyah, just outside of Riyadh. Spanning more than 20,000 square metres, the area has recently been developed to serve as a creative district in Saudi Arabia, which has been pouring funds into arts and culture projects
Ad Diriyah, the area where the event will take place, is known as the Jewel of the Kingdom. It is where the first Saudi Arabian state was established. Starting with the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, it will become the site of one other cultural biennale that will focus on Islamic arts. The two events, both overseen by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation and the Ministry of Culture in Saudi Arabia, will alternate each year.
