Diriyah, a biennial tested by geopolitics

The third edition of the Diriyah Biennale in Riyadh opened on January 30th with the theme of migrations. The war in the Persian Gulf has overshadowed its echo.

“The most interesting biennials are taking place in Asia today,” stated Sabih Ahmed, co-curator with Nora Razian of the event. “In places without museums, with diverse and less institutionalized artistic practices. There is a sense of agility and room to test new ideas.” Even though Saudi Arabia is rapidly building museums (such as the Black Gold Museum in Riyadh and the Red Sea Museum from last year), it still aligns poorly with this model. It is worth noting that drawing was only introduced into secondary education in 1945, the first art education diplomas were not issued until 1975, and Saudi artists were only first exhibited abroad in 1984 in Brussels. In the race for modernization, biennials serve as a clear instrument for international recognition and publicity. For this third occurrence (following editions by Philip Tinari in 2022 and Ute Meta Bauer in 2024), the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, named after Riyadh’s historical core (currently undergoing significant development with numerous cranes constructing new complexes), appears to have visibly reduced resources. In the former industrial district JAX, where warehouses are gradually transforming into artists’ workshops and cultural spaces, the stakes do not seem to be diminishing.

Poetic Statistics This ambition can be seen in…