The third edition of the Diriyah Biennale in Riyadh opened on January 30, focusing on the theme of migrations. The war in the Persian Gulf has overshadowed its echo.
“The most interesting biennials are now held in Asia,” says Sabih Ahmed, co-curator with Nora Razian of the event. “In places without museums, with minimally institutionalized artistic practices but very diverse. There is a form of agility, and new ideas can be tested there.” Although the Saudi kingdom is rapidly acquiring museums (the Black Gold museum just opened in Riyadh, and the Red Sea museum dates back to last year), it still corresponds little to this model. It should be noted that drawing was only introduced into secondary education in 1945, the first art education diplomas were only issued in 1975, and Saudi artists were not exhibited abroad until… 1984 (in Brussels). In this race for leveling up, biennials are an obvious instrument for international recognition and media coverage. For this third occurrence (after the editions by Philip Tinari in 2022 and Ute Meta Bauer in 2024), the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, named after the historical heart of Riyadh (undergoing massive development with around a hundred cranes building new complexes), has visibly reduced resources. In the former industrial district JAX, where warehouses are gradually being transformed into artists’ studios and cultural spaces, the stakes do not seem to be at a discount.
Poetic statistics This ambition is evident in…
