Jeddah, May 1, 2025 (3 Dhul Qadah 1446 AH)

The inaugural edition of the "MADE" design forum opened today in Jeddah, organized by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation in the cultural program building of the Islamic Arts Biennale at the western hajj terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport, offering a unique experience that blends modernity with identity, and craft with innovation.

Running for four days, the forum creates an interactive creative space that spotlights contemporary design and opens up a rich dialogue between designers, artists and craftspeople from across the Arab world, who present experimental works that redraw the relationship between people and material, and between art and function.

Design as a Cultural and Creative Tool

Visitors move through the forum's halls past contemporary furniture crafted with memory, ceramics that speak through silence, textiles that evoke the future, and biomaterials inspired by nature. Every work at the forum carries a story, an identity and a philosophical outlook, where aesthetic values intertwine with environmental and cultural ones, in an expressive setting alive with dialogue and reflection.

Discussions and Workshops That Question Concept and Function

The forum hosts a series of intellectual lectures, interactive workshops and specialized panel discussions to explore concepts such as the ethics of design and its social implications, innovation as a cultural practice, the role of traditional crafts in shaping the identity of the future, and the designer's place in a rapidly changing global context.

MADE: A Global Vision with Saudi Features

The MADE forum reflects the Diriyah Biennale Foundation's commitment to nurturing creative expression and promoting global cultural dialogue from the heart of the Kingdom, through initiatives that celebrate local creativity and give creators a global platform that helps affirm Saudi Arabia's position as a vital hub for contemporary arts and design.