Your guide to Art Week Riyadh 2025
The festival will take over the capital for one week.
In case you missed the announcement, a huge cultural event in the Kingdom is happening this month, and it is set to make waves. JAX District is welcoming both visitors and residents to Art Week Riyadh 2025, scheduled from 6 to 13 April. An initiative of the Ministry of Culture’s Visual Arts Commission, this inaugural edition themed At The Edge, promises to be more than just an art exhibition. It will shine a spotlight on the region's rapidly growing art scene, celebrating Saudi Arabia’s vibrant history, its evolving contemporary practices, and its ambitious future in the art world.
Explore the blend of tradition and innovation, local narratives and global perspectives, while highlighting Saudi Arabia’s expanding influence on the global art stage.
Nefeli Papadimouli, Dream Coat, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and THE PILL.
What’s happening at Art Week Riyadh
There is so much to take in. First of all, Art Week Riyadh is divided into three key themes: Everyday Life, Landscapes, and Motifs. These themes guide visitors through a creative journey that blends local culture with global influences. The exhibition will feature over 45 galleries from Saudi Arabia and beyond, offering a mix of art that showcases contemporary creativity while respecting tradition.
Featured galleries
The exhibition will feature a diverse selection of galleries from the Middle East, Africa and Europe: Layan Culture (KSA), Hunna Art (Kuwait), Gallery Misr (Egypt), Lawrie Shabibi (UAE), Wadi Finan Art Gallery (UK / UAE), Albareh Art Gallery (Bahrain), and more.
Al Mousa Center, a key venue in the heart of Riyadh, will host over 15 galleries, an important cultural space that combines the Kingdom’s artistic past with its dynamic future. Exhibiting galleries will include: Wrd Art Gallery, Frame Art Gallery, China Saudi Cultural Art Association, Ahlam Gallery, Takeib for Arts, and more.
Across the city, Riyadh’s museums and art hubs will welcome visitors for special programming during the week, including The Royal Institute of Traditional Arts (WRTH), Shamalat, Hewar Gallery, and the studio of leading Saudi artists Ali Al Ruzaiza, Lulwah Al Homoud, Abdullah AlOthman, and others. This offers a unique opportunity to reflect on how Riyadh’s past and present converge, shedding light on the city’s dynamic transformation.
Amba Sayal-Bennett, Cue, 2019. Courtesy of CARBON 12 and the artist
A platform for conversation
Art Week Riyadh aims to do more than showcase art, expect space for conversations between artists, curators, and art lovers from all over the world. The event encourages dialogue, helping people understand how Saudi Arabia’s art scene connects with and shapes global trends.
King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra). Featuring works by leading artists such as Do Ho Suh, Maha Malluh, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Mohammad Alfaraj, Hazem Harb, Gregory Mahoney, Moath Alofi, and Sultan bin Fahad, the exhibition highlights the interplay between material memory, transformation, and the landscapes that shape identity, and explores how history is preserved, reinterpreted, and reshaped through art. Add the foundation, Art Jameel, as a highlight. The team will present a selection of single-channel artworks from its collection that highlight the diverse and evolving landscape of experimental film and video art practices in the expanded region.
This presentation brings together video works by artists from Saudi Arabia and the Arab world, largely made in the 2010s, reflecting a decade marked by profound transformations. Many of the featured works are early and foundational pieces by major artists, such as Ahaad Alamoudi, Hiwa K, Yto Barrada, Ahmed Mater, and others. Together, they evoke and investigate rapidly changing urban landscapes, evolving geographies of belonging, cultural shifts, and the making of history.
A series of high-profile talks and engaging workshops will reflect on themes and questions facing the visual arts in Saudi Arabia, and the wider world today. Curated by Shumon Basar and entitled How to Art World? Lessons in Value, the program will run at JAX District and include important contributions from local and international partners such as Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Gagosian, and others.
Ahmed Mater, Hurriya. Courtesy of Ahmed Mater Studio
Why you should attend
Whether you’re an art lover or a professional in the field, this event brings together art from around the world, allowing you to engage with the latest trends and cultural developments in Saudi Arabia. Don’t miss out on being part of the very first Art Week Riyadh, this month.
Visit: visualarts.moc.gov.sa
Head image: Maha Mulluh, X-Rayed 1, 2011. Courtesy of Galerie Krinzinger and the artist
Hayley is passionate about everything 90s, from art and fashion to music. Her love for glossy, artful coffee table books started early during her days in book publishing and has only grown since. She collects luxury magazines from around the world, enjoys exploring creative workshops around the city, and always chases dinners with a view, preferably by the beach.
