Under the patronage of His Highness Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture, the first edition of the Diriyah Biennial for Contemporary Art was launched on Friday evening, in a ceremony held in Jax neighborhood in Diriyah, in the presence of the General Supervisor of Cultural Affairs and International Relations at the Ministry of Culture, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation Diriyah Biennial Rakan bin Ibrahim Al-Touq, Aya Al-Bakri, CEO of the Diriyah Biennial Foundation, and 1000 personalities.

The ceremony began with a speech by Rakan El Touq, in which he said that the Biennale represents a platform to showcase the best art and creativity products in the world.

Then, Aya Al-Bakri gave her speech in which she explained that the launch of the Diriyah Biennial for Contemporary Art is based on a clear vision of creating an international platform for dialogue and cultural exchange between the Kingdom and the world.

She added that the partnership with the curators "had a major role in organizing the first edition of the Biennale, led by Philip Tinari, Director General and CEO of the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in China, and an international team of curators who all contributed to the launch of the first edition of the Diriyah Biennale." Announcing that the Biennale will witness the presentation of the work winning the "Ithra" Prize for Arts for the first time in the Kingdom.

She added, "The Biennale includes more than 40 exhibits signed by 27 local artists, as well as pieces and masterpieces by international artists, all of which deal with different artistic mediums, from paintings to installations to performances."

In turn, Philip Tinari, Curator of the Biennale, said: “The biennale aims at two parts. The first includes presenting contemporary Saudi art in a rich dialogue, presenting its perceptions and visions of the global scene, and the other part, by exciting Saudi audiences to get acquainted with the world of contemporary art. The International Biennale receives visitors from today Saturday, December 11 until Friday, March 11, 2022 AD, in Jax neighborhood in Diriyah, with the participation of more than 60 artists and creators from different countries of the world, including 27 local artists.

The first edition of the Biennale bears the theme “Crossing the River by Tracking the Stones,” and includes six sections: “Crossing the River,” “Experimental Conservation,” “Oceanic Thinking,” “Public Appearance,” “A Whole New World,” and “In Concerning The Spirit”, as each section will address a different dimension, and establish a series of fruitful dialogues between the thriving art scene in the Kingdom and creative communities around the world.

The Diriyah Biennial Foundation organizes a series of cultural programs in cooperation with the Aya and Raneem Art Consulting Company.

The discussions during the opening week of December 11-15 will provide a fruitful cross-cultural dialogue, enabling intellectual exchanges between artists, residents and creative thought leaders from around the world such as Dr. Zahra Al-Ghamdi, Sir Richard Long, Lulwa Al-Hamoud, Han Minwin, Ayman Zedani, Timor C. Keen and others.

A number of prominent artistic and cultural figures will participate in the sessions, including: Wael Al-Awar, the chief engineer at Yway Studio; The art historians Dr. Maha Al-Sanan, Dr. Nada Shabout, and the main contributors to the development of the Saudi art scene are Abdul Rahman Al-Sulaiman, Princess Adwa bint Yazid, Hamza Serafi and Qasoura Hafez, along with the founders of the Art Re-Oriented platform and the directors of Hamburger Bahnhof and the New National Gallery Sam Bardawil and Till Fellrath, Art Jameel Executive Director Antonia Carver, Director and Curator of the Swiss Institute of Contemporary Art in New York Simone Castets, Director of the Delfina Foundation Aaron Cesar; Gabriel Horne, Curator and Curator of the Berlin Biennale, Director Khalil Greige, Andrea Lissoni, Artistic Director of the Haus der Kunst Museum, Andrea Lissoni, Director and Curator of the Center for Contemporary Art in Singapore Otti Meta Bauer, Art Historian and Fellow of the Aga Khan Academy Dr. Raza Momani, and Director of the Biennale Foundation Dr. Rafal Nemojevsky, and founder and director of the Foundation for African Artists, Azo Ngbogo, and curator of the Department of Islamic and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art at the British Museum, Dr. Phenicia Porter.

The cultural program of the biennial also includes dialogue meetings with a number of participants, including the artists Manal Al-Dowayan, Simon Denny and Jeff Oppenheimer, who will present the artistic methods used for their works, while the curators will present their own visions in these works, in addition to the main engineer, Kolabat Yantrasast, from the company. Y. Architects, who designed the scenography for the Biennale.