Press Release

The 2024 Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, led by Artistic Director Ute Meta Bauer, announces a list of participating artists and presents its curatorial framework and title, After Rain. Evoking a scent that comes from the ground, the title embodies revitalization and renewal.

The second edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, in the historic town of Diriyah just outside of Riyadh and home to the UNESCO world heritage site of At-Turaif, will open to the public from February 20 to May 24, 2024. It explores the role of a contemporary art biennial in a country that is undergoing rapid social change. A substantial number of new works that each engage with this moment of transformation have been commissioned for the Biennale. To date, the Biennale features 92 artists from 43 countries, including 30 artists from the wider Gulf region.

International ongoing exhibitions

After Rain

Diriyah Biennale Foundation, Riyad (Saudi Arabia)

20.02 - 24.05.2024

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After Rain unfolds across seven halls, numerous courtyards and terraces in the JAX District of Diriyah, which is situated along Wadi Hanifa, a seasonal riverbed. This particular landscape invites a varied program of performances, concerts, and poetry readings coming to life through the year-long Biennale Encounters series, which began in April 2023. Together, artists and the curatorial team make After Rain a process of artistic exploration and an ongoing conversation with new audiences. This edition is informed by several research trips to regions across Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries undertaken by the curatorial team together with local artists and those visiting from abroad; this travel has been essential for the development of newly commissioned works.

After Rain convenes multiple generations of artists who are engaged with investigating the complex history of the region, sustaining the human-nature continuum, examining the built environment, observing the state of the surrounding landscapes, and encouraging us to listen more closely. Some of these artistic explorations involve writers and poets, botanists, architects, scientists, planners, and chefs.

List of participating artists (as of October 25, 2023)

Hamra Abbas, Sara Abdu, Irene Agrivina, Alia Ahmad, Azra Akšamija, Nabila Al Bassam, Dhali Al Mamoon, Reem Al Nasser, Rasha Al-Duwaisan, Abdulrahman Al-Soliman, Mohammad AlFaraj, Abdulla Buhijji & Noor Alwan, Aseel AlYaqoub, El Anatsui, Nazgol Ansarinia, Rasheed Araeen, Siah Armajani, Martha Atienza, Tarek Atoui, Dana Awartani, Asma Bahmim, Sammy Baloji, Zarina Bhimji, Ursula Biemann, Safeya Binzagr, Rossella Biscotti, Britto Arts Trust, Muhanned Cader, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Liu Chuang, Tiffany Chung, Ade Darmawan, The Migrant Ecologies Project (Lucy Davis and collaborators Zai Tang, Kee Ya Ting, and Zachary Chan), Priyageetha Dia, NJOKOBOK (Youssou Diop and Apolonija Šušteršič), Ibrahim El-Salahi, Alia Farid, Christine Fenzl, Ângela Ferreira, Alexander Eriksson Furunes and Sudarshan Khadka, Simryn Gill, Anne Holtrop, Hasan Hujairi, Saodat Ismailova, Joan Jonas, Armin Linke and Ahmed Mater, Mariah Lookman, Taus Makhacheva, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, Regina Maria Möller, James Morris, Tania Mouraud, Zarina Muhammad, Dala Nasser, Hind Nasser, Hussein Nassereddine, Filwa Nazer, Nguyễn Trinh Thi, Elia Nurvista, Phi Phi Oanh, Lucy + Jorge Orta, Sopheap Pich, Marjetica Potrč, Lala Rukh, Arin Rungjang, Tomás Saraceno, Citra Sasmita, Seher Shah, Liang Shaoji, Hassan Sharif, Shooshie Sulaiman, Tang Da Wu, Paulo Tavares / autonoma, Sissel Tolaas, Anaïs Tondeur, Mona Vătămanu & Florin Tudor, Suzann Victor, Munem Wasif, Ines Weizman, Yeo Siew Hua, Liam Young, Camille Zakharia, Samia Zaru.

Curatorial team

Ute Meta Bauer, Wejdan Reda, Rose Lejeune, Anca Rujoiu, Ana Salazar and Rahul Gudipudi.

About Diriyah Biennale Foundation

Inspired by the changes taking place in Saudi Arabia and the heritage site of Diriyah, the Diriyah Biennale Foundation assumes a critical role in nurturing creative expression and instilling an appreciation for culture and the arts and their transformative potential. The Foundation aspires to be a catalyst for lifelong learning and to serve Saudi Arabia’s communities. At this historical moment of evolution and growth in Saudi Arabia, these Biennales will showcase some of the world’s leading artists, drive cultural exchange between the Kingdom and international communities, promote dialogue and understanding, and further establish Saudi Arabia as an important cultural center.

Exhibition 20 February - 24 May 2024. Diriyah Biennale Foundation, 7120 Muhammad Ibn Rashid Al Uraini, Al Diriyah Al Jadidah - Riyadh 13732 (Saudi Arabia).