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Saudi Arabia has opened the 3rd edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale in Riyadh, bringing together over 65 artists from 37 countries and reinforcing the kingdom’s growing role in the global contemporary art scene.
The exhibition, organized by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, will run through May 2 and marks the country’s first-ever biennale initiative.
Speaking at the opening, Rakan Al-Touq, assistant minister of culture and vice chairman of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation’s board of trustees, said Saudi Arabia’s contemporary art scene has been reshaped in recent years through sustained cultural investment.
He pointed out that biennales, artist residency programs, museum development, and grant schemes have all helped position the country as an emerging center for cultural exchange.
According to Al-Touq, these efforts line up with Saudi Arabia’s broader ambition and capacity to turn itself into a leading hub for cultural and creative mobility across the region and beyond.
Co-artistic director Sabih Ahmed explained that the biennale was set up to open space for critical reflection on society and culture by working through new visual languages and ideas.
He noted that the curatorial approach did not focus on how the location appears to the outside world but rather on how the world can be viewed from Diriyah itself.
Ahmed described the exhibition as drawing on interconnected lines such as journeys, winds, birds, modern supply chains, storms, plagues, and viruses, adding in a full quote that “rather than mapping, excavating, archiving, or witnessing, the Biennale stages a choreography of the fragments of history.”
Titled In Interludes and Transitions, the exhibition reflects on movement, disruption and transformation, both historical and contemporary.
By bringing together artists from a wide range of countries, the biennale sets out to frame Diriyah as a meeting point where global narratives and local perspectives cross over.
The exhibition remains open to the public until May 2.
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