Saudi Arabia continues to pour resources and funding into its arts sector, boosting its cultural and diplomatic credentials with the launch in November of a vast new digital art institute called Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) in Riyadh. The new hub will play “a pioneering role in developing and leading new art practices” with “a strong focus on education, production and exhibitions”, according to a project statement.
The vast new institute, located in the Unesco World Heritage Site of Diriyah in north-west Riyadh, is part of a larger complex funded by the government’s sovereign wealth fund (public investment fund) costing $62.2bn. The 6,550 sq. m DAF facility, initiated by the Ministry of Culture of Saudi Arabia, houses “cutting-edge labs and immersive exhibition spaces… [and] audio/video studios, a film studio and post-production studios”, says a DAF spokesperson.
She adds: “The Mena [Middle East and North Africa] region is home to so many visionary artists and academics, specialising in new media and digital art. As the first new media arts hub in the region, Diriyah Art Futures presents a much-needed platform to uplift their perspectives onto the global stage. We also aim to attract top talent from across the world into the Saudi cultural ecosystem, facilitating greater cultural exchange.”
Diversification strategy
Meanwhile, “Diriyah Art Futures is a key ‘giga-project’ in the kingdom’s plans to drive diversification and create new economic ecosystems,” writes Zohra Khan in StirWorld magazine. A giga-project is a hugely costly initiative aimed at diversifying the economy, thereby reducing Saudi Arabia’s reliance on oil. The ambitious new centre is part of the government’s plan to rebrand the Saudi state, which was considered isolationist and ultra-conservative until only a decade ago. (The country also has a concerning record on human rights.)
“Although we maintain a regional perspective, we are very much focused on tackling global conversations. This vision reflects the spirit of Saudi Arabia’s cultural transformation under Vision 2030 as the nation increasingly establishes its reputation as a global centre for cultural exchange and dialogue,” the spokesperson says.
This global reach is evident in the centre’s one-year “Emerging New Media Artists Programme”, which launched last month. The programme is developed in collaboration with Le Fresnoy Studio National des Arts Contemporains, based in Tourcoing, France. The inaugural group of 12 artists from 11 countries includes three Saudi individuals, such as the artist and curator Almuqawil Meshal, and Salma Aly of Egypt and Youssef El Idrissi of Morocco.
The new centre also offers a series of three-month artist residencies early next year centred on the theme of High-Resolution Dreams of Sand. “The theme encourages participants to produce work that engages with the context of Diriyah Art Futures’s physical location adjacent to Diriyah’s farms and interrogates the bridge between history and the future,” says an application pack document. Works developed during the residency will be presented in exhibitions or incorporated into scholarly publications.
- Diriyah Art Futures, Riyadh
