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Diriyah Art Futures Launches Emerging New Media Artists Program

Located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Diriyah, DAF seeks to establish Riyadh as a global capital of New Media Art. SPA
Located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Diriyah, DAF seeks to establish Riyadh as a global capital of New Media Art. SPA
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Diriyah Art Futures Launches Emerging New Media Artists Program

Located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Diriyah, DAF seeks to establish Riyadh as a global capital of New Media Art. SPA
Located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Diriyah, DAF seeks to establish Riyadh as a global capital of New Media Art. SPA

Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), a pioneering new media arts center in Saudi Arabia, has announced the 12 successful applicants to its inaugural Emerging New Media Artists Program, which is launching later this year.
The program includes a diverse array of promising talents representing a broad range of creative practices and backgrounds, with strong representation from Saudi Arabia and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Running for one year, the fully funded program offers access to cutting-edge professional equipment and facilities, a production budget, learning experiences with international guest specialists in new media art, and personal mentorships from prominent international digital artists.

The inaugural group of emerging new media artists includes:
- Salma Aly (Egypt), specializing in interactive art.
- Samia Dzaïr (Algeria-France), a two-dimensional (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 specializes 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 Al-Qahtani (Saudi Arabia), a media artist and filmmaker reflecting Arab motifs.
- Youssef El Idrissi (Morocco), a multidisciplinary artist, cultural engineer, and researcher.
- Kyle Donald Marais (South Africa), an extended-reality (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 program is part of a wider partnership between the Saudi 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.

DAF aims to pioneer new horizons for creative practice in diverse fields where art intersects with science and technology. It was established through an initiative by the Ministry of Culture, standing as the first center dedicated to new media and digital arts in the MENA region.

The center also serves as a space for creators from around the world to collaborate, think, and innovate, focusing on research, documentation, and the production of new inspiring works.

Additionally, DAF provides artists and researchers with an opportunity to participate in its scheduled activities, including public events and educational programs, while also offering them residency programs.

The center seeks to contribute to enriching the Saudi artistic scene and enhancing the Kingdom’s position as a global destination for new media and digital arts. It highlights the talents of active artists in the region, allowing them to leave their impactful mark on art, science, and technology.

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Culture

Syria's Aleppo Set for Revival Despite War Scars to its Heritage

During the four years of fighting before Assad's forces recaptured Aleppo following a devastating siege, the city was virtually emptied - AFP
During the four years of fighting before Assad's forces recaptured Aleppo following a devastating siege, the city was virtually emptied - AFP
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Syria's Aleppo Set for Revival Despite War Scars to its Heritage

During the four years of fighting before Assad's forces recaptured Aleppo following a devastating siege, the city was virtually emptied - AFP
During the four years of fighting before Assad's forces recaptured Aleppo following a devastating siege, the city was virtually emptied - AFP

The historic Baron Hotel in Syria's Aleppo is dilapidated and damaged by years of war but still standing and ready for a revival, much like the city itself.

Aleppo's old city, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, was ravaged by the conflict that erupted after a government crackdown on protests in 2011.

Between 2012 and 2016, it became a battleground between Syria's military and opposition factions.

The army of now-ousted president Bashar al-Assad shelled opposition fighters from the ground and struck them from the air, supported by Russian firepower.
Opposition groups, meanwhile, used mortars and artisanal rockets, as the fighting turned ancient streets into sniper alleys.

During the four years of fighting before the government recaptured Aleppo following a devastating siege, the city was virtually emptied.

Now, after Assad's fall following a lightning opposition offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, residents are looking forward to reconstruction.

"Unfortunately, more than 60 percent of the edifices in the old city, monuments of the old city of Aleppo, were devastated to ground zero," said Georges Edleby, a tour guide in the city for 35 years.

"Hopefully there will be a day that we see them again restored."

The ancient souks where Aleppo's famed olive oil soap is piled up in stacks for sale has been reduced in many places to little more than rubble.

- 'Hope for a better life' -

Aleppo's medieval citadel, however, remains relatively intact.

Opposition fighters, one with a rose slipped into the barrel of his gun, stood guard outside the ancient ramparts, which Syria's army turned into a stronghold during the war.

Most of the damage in the citadel was caused by a 2023 earthquake, locals say.

Below in the old city, a few alleys of the souk -- once the largest in the world with 4,000 stalls -- have reopened after being restored, including with Saudi financial aid.

Jamal Habbal, 66, has spent all his life under the stone vaults of the old city and reopened his macrame and rope shop there a year ago.

"We have so many memories here. It was a big market that was vibrant and lively. Girls used to come to buy items for their trousseaus. They could find everything," he told AFP.

"And then suddenly, the crisis," he said, reluctant to even say the word war.

"We had to leave. I returned in 2018, but it's still difficult," he added, speaking in a dark and largely deserted alley.

Fadel Fadel has also reopened his shop offering souvenirs, soap and mother-of-pearl inlaid boxes.

"It was completely destroyed here," said the 51-year-old.

He is hoping to see Aleppo returned to its status as a "center of commerce, industry and tourism."

"We hope for a better life."

- Museum ready to reopen -

Outside, dusty streets wind between ruins that await reconstruction and revival.

The Baron Hotel once welcomed Agatha Christie, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser and France's Charles de Gaulle.

Visitors flocked to see the somewhat faded glory of its rooms, as well as its terrace and the unpaid bar bill belonging to one Lawrence of Arabia.

But now, several broken windows adorned with shutters hanging from a single hinge offer a view into a deserted building covered in dust.

The hotel's future is uncertain.

Its last owner, Armen Mazloumian, has passed away. He told AFP back in 2014 that he felt the hotel's glory days were behind it and it would "never be what it once was again".

Nearby, however, the National Museum of Aleppo is readying to reopen. Its courtyard was hit in shelling but its building and collection were spared.

Director Ahmed Othman said the museum "took lessons from the experience of our neighbours," including institutions in Iraq and Lebanon.

"We took the necessary measures to protect our collections," he said.

"The statues that were too heavy to move were encased in concrete and the smaller pieces were moved to safe places."

Treasures that trace nine millennia of history and the birth of writing in nearby Mesopotamia have been preserved unharmed as a result.

"We did many things in order to protect the museum as a whole," said Othman