RIYADH: Diriyah Art Futures, a pioneering new media arts hub in Saudi Arabia, has announced 18 successful applicants for the second Emerging New Media Artists Program.
“We are pleased to announce the 18 artists joining the second edition of our Emerging New Media Artists Program, representing 12 countries including Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region. A year of creativity and exploration begins in Riyadh,” DAF said.
Designed in collaboration with Le Fresnoy — Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France, the Emerging New Media Artists Program is part of the Saudi Ministry of Culture’s efforts to facilitate creativity across art, technology and academia.
Located in Diriyah, home of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of At-Turaif, DAF is establishing Riyadh as a global capital of new media art by empowering the next generation of artists and scholars.
Running from November 2025 to September 2026, the cohort includes a diverse array of promising talent representing a range of creative practices and backgrounds, with strong representation from Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region.
Running for a year, the fully supported program offers access to cutting-edge professional facilities, a production budget, learning experiences with international guest professors specializing in new media art, and personal mentorships from prominent international digital artists.
The program concludes with “Continuum,” an annual exhibition that celebrates and showcases the works created by its participants, Saudi Press Agency reported.
The second group of Emerging New Media Artists includes: Fai Ahmed (Saudi Arabia), a media artist exploring collective memory and the politics of technology; Njood Albawardi (Saudi Arabia), a media artist working with immersive technologies and interactive systems to examine identity and presence; Foreseen — Pat Wong and Kachi Chen (Hong Kong), an artist duo creating XR installations critiquing the ethics of data capitalism and bodiless digital existence; Harpreet Sareen (India), a designer and researcher hybridising organic and digital systems; Gabriela Itzel Reyes Jasso (Mexico), a visual programmer and new media artist investigating light, space and sensory perception; Hiba Nusrat Ali (US), a digital artist and scholar developing immersive environments through the framework of digital somatics; Ezzat Morad Abbas Ali Shamsan (Yemen), a filmmaker and visual artist exploring collective memory, urban decay and postcolonial narratives through immersive digital media; Noel Apitta (Uganda), an audiovisual artist working with light, space and sound to create generative installations; Declan Colquitt (UK), one half of the post-disciplinary duo Y7, exploring AI, recommendation algorithms and cultural criticism; Evgenii Popov (Russia), an interdisciplinary artist using generative systems, lasers and sound to shape immersive sensory environments; Omar Adel (Egypt), a visual artist researching geo-specific landscapes and poetic traditions in relation to Gulf futurism; Ahmad Aiuby (Egypt), a media artist examining AI as a neo-colonial agent through immersive and interactive environments; Mena El-Shazly (Egypt), a visual artist working with analogue video, embroidery and performance to explore decay and transformation; Badria Alsalem (Kuwait), an architect and researcher investigating Arab astronomy and environmental temporal logics; Linda Dong (China), a filmmaker and multimedia artist exploring cultural dislocation, memory and identity; Dina Khalil (Egypt), an XR artist creating inclusive, interactive experiences celebrating diverse cultures and communities; and Yasir Thani (Nigeria/Sudan), a media artist combining immersive technologies and photogrammetry to explore cultural memory.
