Diriyah Art Futures, a pioneering New Media Arts centre in Saudi Arabia, has announced that 12 applicants have been selected to join its year-long, fully funded inaugural programme that offers access to cutting-edge facilities.

Emerging New Media Artists Programme, to be launched later this year, includes a diverse array of promising talent with strong representation from Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region.

The programme offers access to advanced professional equipment and facilities, a production budget, learning experiences with international guest professors specialising in New Media Art and personal mentorships from prominent international digital artists.

The group of artists are:

• Salma Aly (Egypt), specialising in Interactive Art
• Samia Dzaïr (Algeria-France), a 2D and stop motion animator
• Aya Abu Ghazaleh (Jordan), a visual artist and art therapist
• Dhia Dhibi (Tunisia), a multidisciplinary artist, curator and researcher
• Khaled Makshoush (Saudi Arabia), who specialises in pixel art
• William Brooks (Wales), an artist exploring sound art through physical objects
• Haonan HE (China), who merges cartography, instrument making and digital tech
• Turki AlQahtani (Saudi Arabia), a media artist and filmmaker reflecting Arab motifs
• Youssef El Idrissi (Morroco), a multidisciplinary artist, cultural engineer and researcher
• Kyle Donald Marais (South Africa), an XR developer and creative technologist
• Mohamed Al Mubarak (Bahrain), a documentary filmmaker and video artist
• Almuqawil Meshal (Saudi Arabia), an independent artist and curator

Designed in collaboration with Le Fresnoy – Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France, the programme is part of a wider partnership between the Ministry of Culture and Diriyah Company, to facilitate creativity across art, technology and academia.

Located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Diriyah, DAF seeks to establish Riyadh as a global capital of New Media Art, and empower the next generation of creative pioneers. – TradeArabia News Service