Diriyah: Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), the MENA region's first New Media Arts hub, has announced in a press release a call for applications for the second cycle of its Emerging New Media Artists program, set to launch in October 2025.

According to Saudi Press Agency, the one-year program, developed in partnership with Le Fresnoy - Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France, offers access to cutting-edge professional equipment and facilities, a production budget, and personal mentorship from prominent international digital and new media artists.

The program begins with three months of thematic and conceptual explorations of cutting-edge topics, presented by artists and theorists through seminars, lectures, screenings, and workshops. Following this, participants will work under the mentorship of leading artists and scholars to produce new artworks using DAF's world-class facilities, including advanced audio-visual techniques, immersive reality, coding, sensing, machine learning, and spatial audio-visual environments. The final works will be exhibited at DAF as the final curated and juried outcome of the program.

The release emphasized that applicants should be 35 years or younger, at the graduate or postgraduate completion stage, and have experience in developing and creating New Media and Digital Art. Candidates can find more information, selection criteria, and apply to the program here.

Furthermore, the first edition of the program was launched alongside the opening of DAF in Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The inaugural cohort featured 12 up-and-coming new media and digital artists from 11 countries, with strong representation from Saudi Arabia and the MENA region.