عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Culture

Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art Hosts Fourth Edition of BIENALSUR

The exhibition will run until December 31, 2025 - SPA
The exhibition will run until December 31, 2025 - SPA
TT
TT

Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art Hosts Fourth Edition of BIENALSUR

The exhibition will run until December 31, 2025 - SPA
The exhibition will run until December 31, 2025 - SPA

The Museums Commission inaugurated on Wednesday the fourth Saudi edition of the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of the South (BIENALSUR) at the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art (SAMoCA) in JAX District, Diriyah.

The event will run under the theme “Let’s Play: A Labyrinth of Options,” aiming to strengthen cultural dialogue between the Kingdom and the world through contemporary art, according to SPA.

The exhibition will run until December 31, 2025, under the supervision of BIENALSUR Artistic Director Diana Wechsler, and features the participation of 26 artists from inside and outside the Kingdom.

This year’s edition coincides with the 10th anniversary of BIENALSUR, which began at the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (UNTREF) in Buenos Aires with the support of UNESCO. Over the past decade, the biennial has expanded to more than 70 cities and 140 cultural institutions worldwide.

The Saudi edition contributes to advancing the mission of SAMoCA to empower Saudi talents, promote cultural exchange, and broaden access to contemporary art across the Kingdom.

During the opening ceremony, visitors experienced a variety of interactive artworks combining light, sound, and movement, offering reflections on the concepts of choice, experimentation, and rediscovery. The exhibition transforms art into a space for play, contemplation, and human connection through an inspiring and dynamic artistic experience.

According to the commission, SAMoCA is also presenting two accompanying artistic programs as part of BIENALSUR. The first, titled “SAFAR,” is a concert series running from November 12 to December 7, featuring independent international artists performing adjacent to the museum. The initiative aims to attract music lovers and encourage collaboration among different art forms.

The SAFAR program includes several notable performances: the French band Bon Entendeur will make its debut performance in the Kingdom on October 28; Nigerian artist Keziah Jones, pioneer of the “Blufunk” genre that fuses blues, funk, soul, and Yoruba heritage, will perform on November 12; and the duo Love and Revenge will conclude the program on December 8 with a concert reimagining the legacy of Umm Kulthum through a mix of electronic music and cinematic visuals. On December 7, a masterclass will be held by artist Wael Kodeih as part of the training program accompanying the event.

The second program, “MUNTADA,” will run from November 2 to 8, and includes workshops, advanced courses, panel discussions, and film screenings under the theme “Focus on Image: Tools, Language, and Its Power.”

The program features leading practitioners exploring how images are created, interpreted, and shared in the modern era.

Through this event, the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art continues to establish itself as a leading national platform for modern art and a bridge for creative exchange between artists in the Kingdom and around the world.

It reflects the Museums Commission’s commitment to supporting Saudi artists and enhancing their international presence, in line with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 to build a thriving cultural society and a sustainable creative economy.

Most Viewed

 
 
Culture

Literature Commission Inaugurates Saudi Pavilion at Beijing International Book Fair 2026

The participation reflects Saudi Arabia's growing presence in the global publishing industry and its efforts to strengthen cultural ties with China. (SPA)
The participation reflects Saudi Arabia's growing presence in the global publishing industry and its efforts to strengthen cultural ties with China. (SPA)
TT
TT

Literature Commission Inaugurates Saudi Pavilion at Beijing International Book Fair 2026

The participation reflects Saudi Arabia's growing presence in the global publishing industry and its efforts to strengthen cultural ties with China. (SPA)
The participation reflects Saudi Arabia's growing presence in the global publishing industry and its efforts to strengthen cultural ties with China. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia’s Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission inaugurated on Wednesday the Kingdom’s pavilion at the Beijing International Book Fair 2026 that runs through June 21, reported the Saudi Press Agency.

The participation reflects Saudi Arabia's growing presence in the global publishing industry and its efforts to strengthen cultural ties with China.

CEO of the commission Dr. Abdullatif Al-Wasel said the pavilion aims to introduce Saudi literary and intellectual production to Asian audiences, highlight developments in the Kingdom's literature, publishing, and translation sectors, and raise awareness of the Saudi cultural scene through an accompanying program featuring panel discussions and poetry evenings with Saudi writers and intellectuals.

The commission also seeks to strengthen the presence of Saudi publishers in international forums and build professional partnerships with stakeholders in China's publishing industry, supporting opportunities for translation exchange and cultural cooperation, he added.

Culture

Louvre Museum ‘Running Out of Steam’, Says New Director

This photograph shows visitors, seen from the Sully wing, queuing in the Cour Napoleon by the pyramid designed by Chinese-US architect Ieoh Ming Pei, to enter the Louvre Museum in Paris on November 19, 2025. (AFP)
This photograph shows visitors, seen from the Sully wing, queuing in the Cour Napoleon by the pyramid designed by Chinese-US architect Ieoh Ming Pei, to enter the Louvre Museum in Paris on November 19, 2025. (AFP)
TT
TT

Louvre Museum ‘Running Out of Steam’, Says New Director

This photograph shows visitors, seen from the Sully wing, queuing in the Cour Napoleon by the pyramid designed by Chinese-US architect Ieoh Ming Pei, to enter the Louvre Museum in Paris on November 19, 2025. (AFP)
This photograph shows visitors, seen from the Sully wing, queuing in the Cour Napoleon by the pyramid designed by Chinese-US architect Ieoh Ming Pei, to enter the Louvre Museum in Paris on November 19, 2025. (AFP)

The Louvre museum is struggling to find funding to upgrade its ageing facilities, its new director said Wednesday, following a litany of problems that included a brazen $100-million jewellery heist.

"Despite its imposing majesty, despite the daily commitment of its staff, the Louvre is running out of steam," Christophe Leribault told a Senate committee.

"Its equipment and infrastructure are reaching the end of their life cycle."

Leribault, an art historian and museum director specializing in 18th-century art, took the helm in February, after his predecessor stepped down following an embarrassing daylight theft of imperial jewels in October that laid bare severe security failings.

Home to iconic pieces of art including Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa", the Louvre is the world's most visited museum, receiving around nine million visitors a year.

It is housed in a vast palace in central Paris on the banks of the Seine River, built over centuries by various French monarchs who at times used it as their official residence.

"Building-related emergencies are piling up, and we're facing a wall in terms of investments," Leribault said.

The museum had struggled with repeated strikes causing loss of revenue, a ticket fraud scheme that may have cost the museum 10 million euros ($11.7 million), a water leak, and other maintenance issues.

Culture

Monumental Cave Art on Paris’ Oldest Bridge Finally Opens, as the Public Steps and Sniffs Inside

Visitors walk into the artwork "The Pont Neuf Cave" by French street artist JR on the Pont Neuf bridge, Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Paris, open to the public from June 15 to 28. (AP)
Visitors walk into the artwork "The Pont Neuf Cave" by French street artist JR on the Pont Neuf bridge, Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Paris, open to the public from June 15 to 28. (AP)
TT
TT

Monumental Cave Art on Paris’ Oldest Bridge Finally Opens, as the Public Steps and Sniffs Inside

Visitors walk into the artwork "The Pont Neuf Cave" by French street artist JR on the Pont Neuf bridge, Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Paris, open to the public from June 15 to 28. (AP)
Visitors walk into the artwork "The Pont Neuf Cave" by French street artist JR on the Pont Neuf bridge, Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Paris, open to the public from June 15 to 28. (AP)

For weeks, a black mountain loomed over the Seine where Paris’ oldest bridge should have been. On Monday evening, its doors finally opened.

Inside, Paris smells different. The air carries the scent of earth after rain — damp ancient stone, cellar walls, perhaps a trace of smoke.

Visitors step from the bright riverfront into a dark passage lined with glowing photographs of caves, as a low electronic pulse seems to breathe through the walls.

Beneath it all, the old cobblestones of the Pont Neuf rise and fall underfoot.

The Pont Neuf Cavern, a monumental installation by French street artist JR — also known as the French Banksy — is free to enter around the clock through June 28.

Made largely from printed fabric and air, it transforms the 17th-century bridge into an artificial cavern rising 18 meters (59 feet) above the Seine.

“It feels like the city has disappeared,” said Léa Martin, a 22-year-old art student from Lyon on Tuesday. “You know the river is right outside, but for a moment you’re somewhere ancient.”

Paris steps in and sniffs history

The smell is central to the illusion.

Olfactory expert Sarah Bouasse created two shifting scents: drawing on geosmin and isoborneol, compounds associated with the aroma released when rain strikes dry earth.

It changes along the crossing: first wet earth and mineral dampness, then something warmer, smokier and faintly animal.

“Usually I cross here without looking up once,” said Michel Dupré, a 67-year-old retiree, blinking as he emerged into daylight. “Today I felt the stones under my feet. And smelled them too. It makes you walk like a child again.”

A sound installation by Thomas Bangalter, formerly of the French electronic duo Daft Punk, accompanies the work, filling the cavern with low rumbles, echoes and pulses.

Completed in 1607, the Pont Neuf — despite its name, “New Bridge” — is the oldest bridge still standing in Paris.

JR’s installation asks people to experience the familiar crossing through their noses, ears and feet.

It also pays tribute to Christo and Jeanne-Claude, whose 1985 wrapping of the bridge in pale golden fabric drew an estimated 3 million visitors.

Their work covered the Pont Neuf in light.

The dark side JR sends visitors into darkness.

“You enter into the darkness,” he has said, “and emerge into the light on the other side.”

Visitors can also raise their phones to activate an augmented-reality experience developed with tech company Snap.

Digital bats trail light through the cave, passing bodies leave ghostly traces and a dancer materializes in space.

JR has linked the work to Plato’s allegory of the cave, in which prisoners mistake shadows for reality. Today’s cave walls, he argues, are screens and the algorithms that shape what people see. Yet the installation’s strongest effects require no phone.

“It’s completely strange,” said Nadia Benali, 34, smiling beside the artificial cliffs. “Paris needs things that make people stop.”

When the cave closes, its fabric will be reused or recycled.

The mountain will vanish, traffic will return and the Pont Neuf — older than the French Revolution — will emerge into the light once more.