New Media Arts Hub Diriyah Art Futures Opens in Saudi Arabia

Located in Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and housed in an iconic 12,000-square-metre building designed by Schiattarella Associati, DAF is an amalgamation of school, production studios, and exhibition spaces, aimed at dissolving boundaries between creative practices.

DAF’s sprawling site houses state-of-the-art creative facilities, including a VR and AR production studio, a motion-capture studio, a dark room, a foley recording room, and a fabrication lab equipped with 3D printers, CNC machines, and a laser cutter. Other facilities include an exhibition space, a theatre, classrooms, a restaurant, and a gift shop.

Haytham Nawar, Director of Diriyah Art Futures, said DAF would bring ‘regional perspectives to global conversations, amplifying the voices of [new media] artists from MENA’.

‘DAF will serve as a hub for critical engagement and innovation at the intersection of art, science, and technology,’ he added.

The institution’s inaugural exhibition, Art Must Be Artificial: Perspectives of AI in the Visual Arts, runs until 15 February 2025. Curated by Jérôme Neutres, the exhibition explores the history of computer art from the 1960s to the present through works by 32 artists, including Frieder Nake (Germany), Vera Molnár (Hungary/France), Refik Anadol (Turkey), and Ryoji Ikeda (Japan).

Participating Saudi artists include Lulwah Alhomoud, Daniah Al-Saleh, Muhannad Shono, and Nasser Alshemimry (DesertF!sh).

In collaboration with Le Fresnoy - Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France, DAF has launched its year-long Emerging New Media Artists Programme, which offers early career artists advanced equipment, mentorship, and funding to create innovative multidisciplinary works.

Additionally, DAF has announced the Mazra’ah Media Arts Residency, which will run from February to April 2025. This three-month programme invites established artists and scholars to create works reflecting on the relationship between nature, technology, and society. The residency is notably named after the Arabic word for ‘farm’, seeking to engage with nearby agricultural sites.

Mona Khazindar, an advisor to the Saudi Ministry of Culture said, ‘DAF is a testament to our nation’s ambitious cultural mandate, which seeks to promote art and culture as a way of life, enabling it to contribute to economic growth and create opportunities for global cultural exchange.’

‘Through this hub, we are opening doors to new forms of creative expression, as we enrich the cultural landscape of Saudi Arabia and empower the next generation of artists and scholars for years to come.’ —[O]

Main image: Miguel Chevalier, Digital Zelliges (2022). © Diriyah Art Futures.