Diriyah Art Futures Launches Call for Emerging Media Artists

Located on the edge of Riyadh in the historic district of Diriyah, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Diriyah Art Futures is Saudi Arabia’s first institution dedicated to New Media and Digital Art. Developed by the Saudi Museums Commission, it was built with a long view: not just for the current generation of artists, but for the infrastructure their work will need to survive, adapt, and evolve.

At the core of the institution sits the Emerging New Media Artists Programme, now open for its second cycle. The programme was developed in collaboration with Le Fresnoy – Studio National des Arts Contemporains, an institution in northern France known for its rigorous interdisciplinary approach. The influence is clear, but not imitative. DAF has begun developing its own pace, rooted in the region but conversant with global networks.

Each selected artist enters a year-long process that begins with a three-month period of conceptual exploration. Lectures, screenings, and seminars led by international artists, scholars, and theorists form a kind of orientation. What is the cultural weight of emerging technologies? What do we inherit when we use a system we didn’t design? What does it mean to archive, sense, simulate?

After this initial phase, the programme shifts into production. Artists are given access to specialised labs and studios outfitted for motion capture, spatial sound, machine learning, immersive reality, and sensing technologies. The support is technical and intellectual. Mentors work closely with each artist, not to shape outcomes, but to push process.

Twelve artists participated in the inaugural cycle in 2023, representing eleven countries. Among them were filmmakers, coders, choreographers, researchers, some from Saudi Arabia, others from across the MENA region and beyond. The programme ends with a public exhibition, held onsite at DAF. But the point is not closure. These exhibitions offer a record of artistic thinking at a specific moment in time, one shaped by the technologies of now, but not bound to them.

The programme is fully funded and open to artists aged 35 or under with experience in New Media or Digital Art. Participants receive production budgets, personal mentorship, and sustained curatorial support.

Artists must be 35 or under with experience in New Media or Digital Art. To learn more about eligibility, selection criteria, and how to apply, visit: https://daf.moc.gov.sa/en/long-term-program