“Riyadh Art Week” turns the capital into an international platform for the arts

The capital, Riyadh, has become a global platform for the arts during the first edition of the “Riyadh Art Week”, which is organized by the Optical Arts Authority, and continues until the thirteenth of April, with the participation of more than 200 artists and artists, and 50 exhibitions and artistic institutions from the Kingdom, the region and the world, on 13 cultural sites, under the slogan “Art for All”.
The “Riyadh Art Week” is one of the leading cultural initiatives that embodies artistic transformation in the Kingdom within the target of Vision 2030, which aims to empower the arts, enhance its presence locally and internationally, and make culture an essential tributary of the national economy and a source of inspiration for generations.

Various artistic experience

The events witnessed artistic shows, interactive workshops, and specialized dialogue sessions, in a variety of artistic experience that attracts interested, artists and public visitors of different age groups.
The Jax neighborhood embraced the main exhibition of the event under the title “On the outskirts of the horizon”, reviewing works from more than 30 local and international exhibition halls focusing on cultural dialogue between the Kingdom and the Middle East and North Africa region, in addition to specialized workshops in the arts of story, pottery, and silent drawing, under the supervision of Saudi and international artists.

The Saudi plastic artist, Jassem Al -Damen, participates in a number of his artistic works that revolve around identity, memory and community transformations using an expressive style that mixes symbolism and abstraction, explaining in a statement to “SPA” that his participation represents an important station in his career, contributed to interacting with a diverse audience, and provided him with an opportunity to display different stages of his artistic development.
The “Riyadh Art” program hosted one of the projects of the Royal Commission for the city of Riyadh, a number of events within the artistic week, to empower art in public spaces, and to enhance the interaction between artists and society, through contemporary artworks that contribute to enriching the artistic scene.

Global praise

A number of international participants stressed the importance of the Saudi cultural event, as the technical director of one of the European institutions, Maria Bilenti, explained that the vitality of the artistic scene in Saudi Arabia was a positive surprise for it, noting that the organization and diversity reflect a sophisticated cultural approach.

For her part, Chinese actress Shong Lee indicated that showing her works in Riyadh constituted an area of ​​visual dialogue between cultures, while Spanish sculptor Julio Fernandez indicated that the event is comparable to the size and influence of major artistic activities in the world.
In turn, the director of the Asian Art Foundation, Laura Tan, returned to the art of Riyadh, an integrated platform for international cooperation, and the exchange of experiences between artists and institutions.
The activities of the “Riyadh Art Week” continues in prominent sites from the capital, including the Saudi Museum of Contemporary Art (Samoca), the exhibition “Art Groups in Dialogue”, and the Foundation for pure art, which celebrates the sculpture through the exhibition “The World of Silence”, with the participation of artists from the Kingdom and Egypt, in addition to women’s and individual exhibitions in the Al -Mousa complex.
The “Riyadh Art Week” represents an advanced step in enriching the local artistic scene, and affirming the Kingdom’s position as a renewed center of contemporary arts, which enhances cultural exchange, celebrates traditions, and looks at the future.