RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Noor Riyadh is an annual festival of light and art, taking place across 40 locations throughout the capital of Saudi Arabia. From November 3 - 19, 2022, over 190 artworks illuminate the city of Riyadh with immersive site-specific installations, monumental public artworks, ephemeral sculptures, art trails, virtual reality, building projections and drone shows, transforming Riyadh into a dazzling night-time ‘gallery without walls’. The festival is co-curated by Hervé Mikaeloff, Dorothy Di Stefano and Jumana Ghouth.
Renowned artists from 40 countries such as Madagascar, Uganda, Japan, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Poland, France, United Kingdom and United States are brought together with emerging and established Saudi artists, for many of whom light is a new artistic medium. 90 new commissions have been produced by artists including Jean-Michel Othoniel, Joël Andrianomearisoa and Muhannad Shono, responding to this year’s theme ‘We Dream of New Horizons’, centered around a sense of hopefulness for the future.
Saudi artists Zahra Al Ghamdi and Rashed AlShashai respond to environmental and climate crisis. Refik Anadol and Scarlet Motiff merge light art, pioneering technology, design and machine intelligence. A strong cohort of Saudi and international women artists include Sarah Brahim, Zineb Sedira, Gisela Colón amongst others. Larry Bell, Alicja Kwade, Sabine Marcelis, Daniel Buren and Douglas Gordon explore how the medium of glass influences visitors' experience with light-based artworks.
The festival’s accompanying exhibition ‘From Spark to Spirit’ (November 3, 2022 - February 4, 2023) at JAX 03, Riyadh, co-curated by Neville Wakefield and Gaida AlMogren. It traces the role light plays in shaping our relationship with a world in which light itself has become a signal of change, exploring themes such as ‘Technologies of Light’, ‘Architectonics of Light’ and ‘Consciousness of Light’.
Architect Khalid Al-Hazani, Riyadh Art Program Director, explained: “Noor Riyadh is a big part of plans to creatively transform the Kingdom’s capital into a vibrant and cosmopolitan global city, through arts and culture. Supported by Riyadh Art, Noor Riyadh’s parent body, it features public artworks and diverse community activities that provide enriching art experiences, which bring together local communities, from families to artists, students, professionals and more, with international audiences from across the globe.”
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Noor Riyadh website and imagery
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