TeamLab Borderless Jeddah marks 1 year of compelling digital art
As Saudi Arabia's first permanent digital art museum, it has welcomed visitors from more than 25 countries — especially young people and art enthusiasts.
It is serving as a cultural hub that reflects their aspirations and introduces new ways of engaging with contemporary art.
The museum has an open layout allowing for exploration and engagement. The interactive artworks respond to their movements and evolve with time, ensuring no two visits are the same.
TeamLab Borderless is a part of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture's broader initiative to activate heritage sites as platforms for contemporary art.
In an interview with Arab News at the museum's launch, Toshiyuki Inoko, TeamLab Borderless' founder, explained the concept behind the museum, noting that 'everything is in a continuous relationship.'
'Even though each element is independent, there are no boundaries in between, and they even influence each other,' he said.
Many of the installations reflect natural rhythms. In 'Proliferating Immense Life,' for example, the flowers change with the months.
The 'Forest of Lamps' and 'Flowers in Infinite Transparency' installations also shift with the seasons, while 'Memory of Topography' presents a static landscape that subtly transforms through movement.
Inoko also revealed that several artworks were developed exclusively for the Jeddah museum.
'(One) work that is very unique to Jeddah is the work of the staircase, where you see the cascading waterfall of sand,' he said.
'Through that sand falls, you see gigantic flowers persistently trying to grow very powerfully. They keep growing, they keep falling, and they continue that cycle forever.'
TeamLab Borderless is a part of Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture's broader initiative to activate heritage sites as platforms for contemporary art.
These efforts align with Saudi Vision 2030, which seeks to empower the cultural and creative sectors and elevate the Kingdom's position as a global hub for art and technology.
The museum stands as an example of this ambition, a space where art is in constant motion and where every visit becomes a unique, personal journey.
'The message that we wanted to convey to the world and the visitor is that the world itself is in a continuous relationship, and everything affects each other,' Inoko said.
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