Diriyah: Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), the first hub for New Media Arts in the Middle East and North Africa, has launched its latest exhibition CONTINUUM '25, showcasing works by the first cohort of emerging artists in new media arts at its headquarters in Diriyah, in the presence of several cultural leaders, intellectuals, and art enthusiasts.
According to Saudi Press Agency, the exhibition is curated by Irini Papadimitriou and features 13 diverse artworks, including immersive installations, audiovisual pieces, virtual reality works, and AI-generated art. These works are created by 11 emerging artists and developed under the supervision of a select group of international artists, including Anna Ridler and Karen Palmer, who also contributed their own works, as well as Madeline Gannon.
The themes of the creative works range from memory, identity, and displacement to environmental and ethical concerns and even the power of algorithms. These contemporary approaches blend the real and the virtual, human and machine, reflecting the essence of the exhibition's title, 'CONTINUUM '25', and the spirit of ongoing exploration and creativity underpinning the Emerging New Media Artists Programme.
The exhibition kicked off with a panel conversation between curator Irini Papadimitriou, Director of Education at DAF Tegan Bristow, and emerging new media artists Khaled Makhshoush, Dhia Dhibi, and Samia Dzair. Wejdan Reda moderated the discussion, focusing on the ways in which new media artists use technology to expand their creative practices and highlighting multidisciplinary collaboration between artists, researchers, and technologists.
Developed in collaboration with Le Fresnoy - Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France, the Emerging New Media Artists Programme provides emerging artists with access to professional equipment, a production budget, and a variety of multidisciplinary learning opportunities. It features artists from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Bahrain, Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and South Africa.
The exhibition marks the inaugural event in a series organized by DAF, aiming to highlight the diverse voices shaping the future of new media arts in the region and globally. CONTINUUM '25 is open to the public at Diriyah Art Futures and runs from September 13 to November 15, accompanied by a rich public programme of workshops, talks, and other activities spanning AI, VR, and digital photography.
DAF will host a workshop on Friday, September 19, titled 'Stories of Home: Digital and Hand Embroidery,' from 5:00 to 8:00 PM, in both Arabic and English. Participants will explore the concept of homeland through regional embroidery traditions and media arts, using digital techniques to design personal symbols that are then translated into hand-embroidered works.