Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026 title, theme, and preliminary artist list
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, October 16, 2025


Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026 title, theme, and preliminary artist list
JAX District, 2026. Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale. Photo courtesy of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation.



DIRIYAH.- The Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026, led by Artistic Directors Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed, announces a preliminary list of participating artists and presents its curatorial framework and title, In Interludes and Transitions. This is the third edition of the Biennale, which takes place at JAX, a creative district with industrial heritage in the historic town of Diriyah, and will open to the public on January 30, 2026.

The title of the Biennale draws from a colloquial phrase invoking the cycles of encampments and journeys in nomadic communities in the Arabian Peninsula, taking as a point of departure the movements, migrations, and transformations that continue to connect the Gulf region with the world—bringing together practices committed to vibrant imaginations of world-making, forged through the social and ecological upheavals that mark the first two decades of this century. The Biennale proposes to rethink the world in intense motion, through processions that entangle humans with planetary, multi-species, spiritual, and technological currents.

With scenography by design studio Formafantasma, the Biennale is conceived as a choreography in which histories, ancestors, dreams, and premonitions move together through song, stories, dance, and whirlwinds. The Biennale presents works by artists, musicians, filmmakers, architects, and writers to amplify continuity and resilience in times of uncertainty. Over 20 new works have been commissioned for the Biennale.

The preliminary list of participating artists includes Pio Abad, Rand Abdul Jabbar, Yussef Agbo-Ola (Olaniyi Studio), Ahaad Alamoudi, Afra Al Dhaheri, Mohammed Alhamdan (7amdan), Ruba Al-Sweel, Taysir Batniji, Raven Chacon, Rohini Devasher, Merve Ertufan, Ivana Franke, Rahima Gambo, Petrit Halilaj, Aziz Hazara, Alana Hunt, Yazan Khalili, George Mahashe, Théo Mercier, Nour Mobarak, Nancy Mounir, Hussein Nassereddine, Daniel Otero Torres, Thảo Nguyên Phan, Gala Porras-Kim, Sarker Protick, Raqs Media Collective, Oscar Santillán, Trương Công Tùng, Wolff Architects, Agustina Woodgate, and Yu Ji.

Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed, Artistic Directors of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026: “Processions have produced relations and forms in this region. The movement of winds and the flow of trade, migration, and exile are carriers of stories, songs, and languages, producing rhythms and poetic meters such as the rajaz. Thinking of the world in procession—a braiding of movements that commemorate and celebrate—allows an understanding of cultural forms through exchange and transmissions; itineraries of travel, intersections, and mutations; and retelling of fragments of exiled stories that have persisted through bodies, materials, rhythms, and cadences.”

The Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026 is led by Artistic Directors Nora Razian, Deputy Director and Head of Exhibitions and Programmes at Art Jameel in Jeddah and Dubai; and Sabih Ahmed, a curator, cultural theorist, and educator serving as Projects Advisor at the Ishara Art Foundation in Dubai. They are joined by a team of international curators: Maan Abu Taleb, May Makki, Kabelo Malatsie, and Lantian Xie. The Milan-based architect Sammy Zarka has been appointed as Associate Architect and Exhibition Designer to collaborate closely with the curatorial team.










Today's News

October 16, 2025

SPEEDWELL announces new limited-edition art book The Haunted-Contemporary Photography Conjured in New England

New exhibition 'Discovering Ancient Egypt' opens at Dutch National Museum of Antiquities

Bertoia's ushers in "the most wonderful time of the year" with a festive Nov. 21-22 auction of toys & holiday antiques

Shannon's announces Fall Fine Art Auction on Thursday, October 30th

Nicolas Party uses pastel to meditate on aging, renewal, and the flow of time

Veronica Ryan's Black Sun installation returns alongside new works at Paula Cooper Gallery

Exhibition at Kunstfoyer presents Polaroids by Helmut Newton

EMMA unveils final phase of Saastamoinen Collection with 40+ new international works

A Good Shelf: Tom Sachs blends ceramics, bricolage, and ritual in interactive London exhibition

Markus Schinwald blends Giotto, AI, and science fiction in Salzburg exhibition

Sleeping on the job: Elmgreen & Dragset install hyperrealistic, slumped gallery assistant in Paris window

Three exhibitions explore political contradictions, play, and transience at Frac Lorraine

KOLUMBA presents make the secrets productive! - Art in Times of Unreason

Gropius Bau presents Ligia Lewis's expansive survey of race, history, and resistance

Patty Horing's new paintings explore modern detachment and emotional nuance

Bagus Pandega, Mona Filleul and Costanza Candeloro with Licit Illicit Bookshop at Swiss Institute

Cornelia Foss reveals personal trauma in Little Reds series at Hirschl & Adler

Gooding Christie's makes strong European advance with key personnel ahead of Rétromobile Paris sale

Exhibition at Galerie John Ferrère explores mud as the matrix where Paris history and modern ruins converge

Laurent Grasso merges myth and machine in debut London solo show at Perrotin

Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026 title, theme, and preliminary artist list

Marie Watt explores Indigenous systems for measuring time at Marc Straus

kaufmann repetto announces representation of Bice Lazzari

Desert Caballeros Western Museum acquires monumental bronze by John Coleman




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



The OnlineCasinosSpelen editors have years of experience with everything related to online gambling providers and reliable online casinos Nederland. If you have any questions about casino bonuses and, please contact the team directly.


Truck Accident Attorneys

sports betting sites not on GamStop



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)


Editor: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez


Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
       
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful