October 16 2022, Riyadh – Saudi Arabia: Noor Riyadh, the groundbreaking annual festival of light and art, will launch on November 3, 2022 (until 19 November 2022), accompanied by a 3-month art exhibition (November 3, 2022 - February 4, 2023) and dynamic public program.
Following the success of the festival’s inaugural edition in 2021, this edition will see the festival triple in size, with activations in 40 locations across the city of Riyadh. As one of the world’s most ambitious festivals of its kind, Noor Riyadh transforms the city into a dazzling night-time ‘gallery without walls’ across the largest city footprint of any light art festival worldwide. The festival brings together local communities, from families to artists, students, professionals and more, with international audiences from across the globe.
Noor Riyadh’s 2022 theme ‘We Dream of New Horizons’ is centered around a sense of hopefulness for the future, with connotations that are positive, optimistic and reflective of a confidence in renewal and transformation.
The much anticipated second edition showcases over 120 installations by more than 100 Saudi and international artists. The festival is co-curated by Hervé Mikaeloff, Dorothy Di Stefano and Jumana Ghouth. World renowned artists such as teamLab, Daniel Buren, Douglas Gordon and Alicja Kwade will be joined by Saudi talent including Muhannad Shono, Ayman Zedani, Sarah Brahim and Ahaad Alamoudi. The diverse forms of light art on show include immersive site-specific installations, monumental public artworks, ephemeral sculptures, art trails and virtual reality.
Additional highlights include the festival’s accompanying exhibition entitled ‘From Spark to Spirit’, taking place from November 3, 2022 to February 4, 2023 at JAX 03 (JAX District), Riyadh, curated by Neville Wakefield (lead curator) and Gaida AlMogren (associate curator). The exhibition traces the role light plays in shaping our relationship to a world for which light itself has become the signal of change, exploring themes such as the ‘Technologies of Light’, ‘Architectonics of Light’ and ‘Consciousness of Light’. Example artists include Doug Aitken, Zahrah Al Ghamdi, Refik Anadol, Larry Bell, Jim Campbell, John Edmark, Walaa Fadul, Lina Gazzaz, Phillip K. Smith III and Haroon Mirza.
Noor Riyadh was the first of the Riyadh Art programs to launch, inaugurating what is becoming the project’s legacy of transforming Riyadh into a gallery without walls. Comprising of 10 programs, delivering more than 1,000 public art installations across the city created by local and international artists, and supported by two annual festivals, including Noor Riyadh, Riyadh Art is working to transform the Capital into a vibrant, cosmopolitan city and enrich lives through creative joyful experiences, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals.
17 October 2022
