At a Glance

  • Location: Riyadh – Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale Foundation
  • Date: 15 Shawwal 1446 AH / April 13, 2025
  • Exhibition Dates: April 21 – July 19, 2025

The Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale Foundation, the first center in the Middle East and North Africa dedicated to new media art, is preparing to launch its second exhibition titled “Meknena: Archaeology of New Media Art in the Arab World,” running from April 21 to July 19, 2025, at its headquarters in the historic At-Turaif district in Diriyah.

The exhibition offers an exceptional artistic reading of the Arab world's engagement with technology, featuring more than 40 Arab artists who use new media as expressive and creative tools, redrawing the digital landscape from a local perspective and raising critical questions about the relationship between art and technology across various cultural and social contexts.

The exhibition is curated by two well-known visual artists and curators, and covers four main themes: mechanization, autonomy, ripples, and glitch — concepts that trace the evolution of artistic approaches and highlight how successive generations of artists have been shaped by digital transformations.

The works on display range from experimental video and interactive films to generative art, intelligent systems and virtual reality, offering visitors a multi-sensory experience that opens windows into understanding the interaction between Arab art and technology.

“Meknena” comes not only as a visual event but as a visual and intellectual research project; the exhibition's name — taken from the word “mechanization” — reflects on the machine as both tool and method, raising profound questions about how technology can be turned into a means of creative expression that moves beyond convention.

The exhibition is accompanied by a rich public program including discussion panels, performances and film screenings, and workshops, allowing visitors to engage directly with artists and thinkers, cementing the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale Foundation's role as a platform for specialized dialogue on new media and future arts within the Kingdom's cultural movement.