Breaking Art Boundaries: Q&A With the Director of Diriyah Art Futures

CairoScene

31-03-2025

Originally Published on March 11, 2025
The quiet revolution at the heart of Saudi Arabia's cultural renaissance is unfolding through the use of digital art, artificial intelligence and new media, reshaping creative expression across the kingdom. Leading this movement is Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), the first institution in the MENA region dedicated to New Media and Digital Art. It was created by the Ministry of Culture of Saudi Arabia to push the boundaries of creative expression, in the kingdom and beyond. While Saudi Arabia races toward its ambitious future, balancing tradition with innovation, DAF stands as a bridge between the past and the future, fusing heritage with cutting-edge experimentation.
'I'm incredibly excited about what we're building here,' Haytham Nawar, the institution's director, tells SceneNowSaudi, reflecting on DAF's role in reshaping Saudi Arabia's cultural landscape. 'This is a space where art, science, and technology come together to push boundaries and foster creativity and innovation.'
Located in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Diriyah, DAF is a hub for collaboration, experimentation and innovation. With Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 placing a strong emphasis on cultural development, DAF is playing a key role in positioning the kingdom as a leader in global artistic innovation, drawing international talent while nurturing homegrown creative voices.
The programs at DAF, such as the Emerging New Media Artists Programme and the Mazra'ah Media Arts Residency, are helping create a new generation of artists who will influence the future of global art discourse.
In an exclusive conversation with SceneNowSaudi, Haytham Nawar shares his insights into DAF's mission, the institution's vital role in Saudi Arabia's broader cultural framework, and the revolutionary impact of new media arts in today's rapidly changing world.
SceneNowSaudi: Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) is the first institution in the MENA region dedicated to New Media and Digital Art. What does this mean for the region's artistic landscape?
Haytham Nawar: Saudi Arabia is currently undergoing a dramatic cultural transformation, which is already reverberating across the region. Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Culture of Saudi Arabia has established Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) as the first New Media Arts hub in the MENA region. DAF is a platform to attract top international talent into our creative orbit, while uplifting our own artists to the global stage. Through this cultural exchange, we are bringing our voices to global conversations, while enriching our creative landscape with fresh perspectives.
New Media Arts is a particularly powerful medium for this process, inspiring bold experimentation at the intersection of art, science and technology. As a hub equipped with world-class facilities and mentors, we are primed to empower the next generation of creatives to push boundaries and shape the future. Can you tell us more about DAF's role within the Saudi Museums Commission and the Ministry of Culture's broader vision?
DAF is a key initiative of the Saudi Museums Commission, one of the 11 sector-specific commissions under the Ministry of Culture. The Museums Commission seeks to enrich the cultural landscape of Saudi Arabia by establishing world-class museums and cultural assets, empowering talents and fostering new forms of creative and artistic expression.
This is part of a wider effort, under Vision 2030,to develop cultural institutions that enrich lives, drive economic growth and position Saudi Arabia as a global leader in arts, culture, and innovation.
DAF embodies this spirit, as a platform that is nurturing the next generation of emerging talent, while facilitating creative and scholarly production inspired by the unique context of Saudi Arabia. How does DAF's location in Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage site, influence its mission and approach to contemporary arts?
DAF's location in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Diriyah presents a fascinating conversation between past, present and future. As a forward-looking institution with deep roots in Saudi Arabia's rich history, it embodies the Museums Commission's commitment to developing institutions which simultaneously celebrate Saudi Arabia's rich cultural heritage while embracing pioneering creative movements.
This relationship is also reflected throughout the physical architecture of the hub itself, designed by Schiattarella Associati, which combines vernacular local traditions with contemporary aesthetics. The building takes its cues from Diriyah's traditional Najdi architecture, incorporating natural materials such as stone, raw earth and mud plaster, alongside contemporary innovations such as rainwater collection systems and passive cooling techniques. The intersection of art, science, and technology is at the core of DAF's vision. How does DAF facilitate collaboration across these disciplines?
DAF is a unique amalgamation of educational hub, laboratory and exhibition space, a place where artists, academics and technologists can come together from across the world to explore new frontiers of creativity. We welcome visionaries from a broad range of disciplines and empower them to create work that will challenge paradigms and redefine future narratives.
DAF facilitates collaboration through a variety of ways, such as the one-year Emerging New Media Artists programme – a one-year scholarship offering developing talent access to cutting-edge professional equipment, a production budget, and a range of multidisciplinary learning opportunities, including personal mentorship by leading digital artists. Designed in collaboration with Le Fresnoy - Studio National des Arts Contemporains, the programme's first cohort includes 12 artists from 11 countries, including three Saudi artists and six others from the MENA region.
Meanwhile, the Mazra'ah Media Arts Residency invites established artists and scholars to produce new work, backed by a production budget and access to cutting-edge facilities. Residents also enjoy opportunities to showcase their work through exhibitions or publications, facilitated by DAF and its network of international partners.
What role does education play in DAF's mission, and how are you preparing the next generation of digital artists?
Education is at the heart of our activities at DAF. As the first institution of its kind, we are building a context for New Media Arts in the region, and that involves a heavy focus on capability-building. With this in mind, we're inviting artists and scholars from the region to collaborate and deepen their creative and academic practices. We also welcome the Saudi public to come and experience New Media Arts first-hand through our public programming, workshops, and masterclasses.
Through these efforts, we hope to inspire the groundbreaking pioneers of tomorrow and equip them with the knowledge, skills and resources they need to enhance their careers and practices. Can you tell us about the inaugural Mazra'ah Media Arts Residency?
The Mazra'ah Media Arts Residency's inaugural theme, 'High-Resolution Dreams of Sand', encourages participants to produce work that engages with the unique geographic and cultural context of DAF's physical location adjacent to Diriyah's farms, while interrogating the bridges between history and the future, nature and technology.
Residents are also invited to reflect on the hub's proximity to Riyadh, the rapidly developing capital of a nation undergoing a dramatic transformation. The theme also encourages conversations on ecologies emerging from contemporary contexts, and those influenced by late capitalism and Gulf-futurism.
As a practising artist and scholar, what excites you most about leading DAF?
Saudi Arabia is home to a very young, technologically literate society, who are embracing all of the new opportunities being presented under the wider Vision 2030 project. This holds a lot of promise for the New Media Arts space, and I am looking forward to seeing how we can finally give this region, with so much untapped potential, a more prominent voice in the global conversation. This is a time of rapid technological transformation, where new media are equipping artists with new and more powerful tools for creative expression. This is a unique opportunity to recalibrate the wider international cultural configuration in favour of the MENA region. What upcoming projects or initiatives should we look forward to from DAF?
Following the launch of the Emerging New Media Artists Programme in November, we have also just launched the inaugural Mazra'ah Media Arts Residency. As our students and residents progress through these programmes, we look forward to sharing their journeys and work with the world.
As our inaugural exhibition, 'Art Must Be Artificial: Perspectives of AI in the Visual Arts', drew to an end, we have now introduced the power and potential of New Media Art to the MENA region. ​We will soon be building on this foundation, as we announce our exciting next exhibition, planned for this year.