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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

France's Louvre Museum Remains Shut as Workers Weigh Strike Extension

FILED - 07 December 2018, France, Paris: A View of the inner courtyard with the glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris. Photo: Christian Böhmer/dpa
FILED - 07 December 2018, France, Paris: A View of the inner courtyard with the glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris. Photo: Christian Böhmer/dpa
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France's Louvre Museum Remains Shut as Workers Weigh Strike Extension

FILED - 07 December 2018, France, Paris: A View of the inner courtyard with the glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris. Photo: Christian Böhmer/dpa
FILED - 07 December 2018, France, Paris: A View of the inner courtyard with the glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris. Photo: Christian Böhmer/dpa

Paris' Louvre, the world's most-visited museum, remained closed at 0800 GMT on Wednesday, as its staff continued discussions on whether to extend a strike over pay and working conditions that started on Monday.

The strike comes after a spectacular jewel heist in October, as well as recent infrastructure problems, including a water leak that damaged ancient books, which have exposed glaring security gaps and revealed the museum's deteriorating state.

According to Reuters, unions have said that staff at the Louvre are overworked and mismanaged, and they are calling for more hiring, pay increases and a redirection of spending.

Louvre director Laurence des Cars, who has faced intense criticism since burglars in October made off with crown jewels worth 88 million euros ($103.14 million), is due to answer questions from the French Senate on Wednesday afternoon.

The museum is routinely closed on Tuesdays.

Culture

New Rome Metro Stations Showcase Ancient Treasures After Years of Delays

People examine artifacts on display during the inauguration of the Colosseo Fori Imperiali stop on Metro Line C in Rome, Italy, 16 December 2025. (EPA)
People examine artifacts on display during the inauguration of the Colosseo Fori Imperiali stop on Metro Line C in Rome, Italy, 16 December 2025. (EPA)
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New Rome Metro Stations Showcase Ancient Treasures After Years of Delays

People examine artifacts on display during the inauguration of the Colosseo Fori Imperiali stop on Metro Line C in Rome, Italy, 16 December 2025. (EPA)
People examine artifacts on display during the inauguration of the Colosseo Fori Imperiali stop on Metro Line C in Rome, Italy, 16 December 2025. (EPA)

After years of delays and spiraling costs, Rome inaugurated two new metro stations on Tuesday, including one by the Colosseum, showcasing archaeological discoveries that might become tourist attractions in their own right.

The driverless Metro C line now stretches from the Italian capital's eastern suburbs to Porta Metronia and the Colosseum, extending its reach into the historic city center.

Future plans will take it even deeper under Rome's baroque heart, beneath the river Tiber and onto the Vatican, though the next stop at Piazza Venezia is not expected to open before 2032.

Excavations for the new stations revealed remarkable finds, which slowed work as archaeologists painstakingly preserved layers of ancient Rome they hadn't known were there.

At Porta Metronia, drilling rigs uncovered a military barracks dating back 2,000 years, as well as a residential house, complete with frescoed rooms and mosaics, which are preserved in a museum within the station.

During the Colosseum excavations, workers discovered 28 ancient wells and hundreds of everyday artifacts, including hairpins, oil lamps, irrigation pipes, knives, and statues, many of which are on show.

"These two stations will travel around the world," Transport Minister Matteo Salvini said on Tuesday, predicting they would soon flood social media.

"Beyond serving commuters and Romans, anyone who comes here from Italy or from abroad will stop in these stations. They might take the metro even if they don't need it, just to enjoy the ride," he added.

LONG DELAYS, COST HIKES

Rome's Metro C was meant to link the city's two main Basilicas by the year 2000. Instead, the line only reached the imposing San Giovanni Basilica in 2018, and the Vatican station near St. Peter's Basilica won't be ready for at least another decade.

The initial plan to build 24 stations to the Colosseum was priced at 2.23 billion euros ($2.63 billion), but costs have surged past 3 billion euros, and the entire line could exceed 6 billion by the time the final seven stations are completed.

Engineers say Rome is among the most challenging cities in the world for metro construction, due to buried archaeological sites that require safeguarding and concerns that vibrations could damage the heritage above ground.

At the next stop, at Piazza Venezia, a construction team is digging an 85-meter deep (280 feet) ring around the site which will be filled with reinforced concrete to protect the six underground floors of the station that are being dug out.

Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said it was worth the effort.

"Without these major works, we would never have discovered the barracks at Porta Metronia, we would never have found these wells, and today we would have known far less about our extraordinary past," he said.

Metro C is intended to carry 600,000 passengers a day, easing Rome's notorious traffic and speeding tourists between major landmarks. At present it carries 41,000 daily, but the new openings should see numbers climb.

Culture

New Discoveries Bridge Chronological Gap between Nabataean, Early Islamic Periods in AlUla’s Wadi al-Qura

The study presents, for the first time, detailed evidence documenting a historical phase in Wadi al-Qura (modern-day AlUla) spanning the 3rd to 7th centuries CE. (SPA)
The study presents, for the first time, detailed evidence documenting a historical phase in Wadi al-Qura (modern-day AlUla) spanning the 3rd to 7th centuries CE. (SPA)
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New Discoveries Bridge Chronological Gap between Nabataean, Early Islamic Periods in AlUla’s Wadi al-Qura

The study presents, for the first time, detailed evidence documenting a historical phase in Wadi al-Qura (modern-day AlUla) spanning the 3rd to 7th centuries CE. (SPA)
The study presents, for the first time, detailed evidence documenting a historical phase in Wadi al-Qura (modern-day AlUla) spanning the 3rd to 7th centuries CE. (SPA)

A joint research team from the Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) published a new peer-reviewed paper in “Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, one of the leading international journals dedicated to Arabian Peninsula and Middle Eastern archaeology.

The study presents, for the first time, detailed evidence documenting a historical phase in Wadi al-Qura (modern-day AlUla) spanning the 3rd to 7th centuries CE.

An RCU statement said the research focuses on a period long regarded as a knowledge gap between the end of the Nabataean era and the beginning of the early Islamic period in northwest Arabia, a time traditionally assumed to have witnessed a widespread decline in settled occupation across sites such as Tayma, Khaybar, and Hegra.

Building on fieldwork from the Dadan Archaeological Project, a collaboration between RCU, CNRS, and AFALULA, the study compiles findings from three consecutive excavation seasons (2021–2023) at an archaeological mound located within the boundaries of the Dadan site, less than one kilometer south of ancient Dadan.

Excavations uncovered a substantial structure built in the late 3rd or early 4th century CE and occupied continuously until the first half of the 7th century CE. This discovery provides the first integrated archaeological evidence of sustained settlement in the region from the early 5th to the early 7th century CE.

The findings reveal a clear architectural and cultural sequence, featuring a network of organized rooms and courtyards, a central square equipped with a well, basin, and water channels, as well as evidence of agricultural practices, crop storage, food production, and craft activities, indicating a stable, structured community.

The study adopts a multidisciplinary approach, incorporating ceramic and lithic analysis, archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, and geoarchaeology. Together, these methods offer new insights into diet, agriculture, and the oasis environment during this extended period.

Collectively, the results challenge long-held assumptions about the history of Wadi al-Qura. Rather than experiencing a complete interruption in settlement between the 4th and 6th centuries CE, the region appears to have hosted a continuous, well-organized community with advanced architectural planning and internal water-management systems, illustrating social and economic continuity up to the eve of the Islamic era.

Commenting on the study, Vice President of Culture within RCU’s Tourism Sector Dr. Abdulrahman AlSuhaibani, who is also a principal contributor to the research, said that "these findings reveal an important chapter in the history of Wadi al-Qura and show that AlUla was part of a vibrant settlement network in the centuries preceding the rise of Islam.”

“This research enriches our understanding of local communities in northwest Arabia and further reinforces AlUla’s position as a place of enduring cultural continuity,” he added.

This achievement reflects RCU’s commitment to advancing world-class archaeological research and building international partnerships with leading scientific institutions.

It supports the ongoing rediscovery of AlUla’s heritage and strengthens its role as a global reference for the study of Arabian history, aligning with Saudi Vision 2030 objectives to boost cultural tourism, grow the knowledge economy, and protect natural and cultural heritage.