The Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale has announced the list of artists participating in its upcoming second edition as well as the curatorial framework and title, After Rain.
Led by Ute Meta Bauer as artistic director, alongside a curatorial team consisting of Wejdan Reda, Rahul Gudipudi, Rose Lejeune and and Anca Rujoiu, the biennial will run from 20 February to 24 May 2024.
Following the announcement, the Biennale to date features 92 artists from 43 countries, including 30 artists from the wider Gulf region.
The title After Rain alludes to the earthy smell produced when rain falls on soil and evokes the notions of revitalisation and renewal. Hailing from multiple generations, all the artists engage with the history of the local region, the relationship between humans and nature, the built environment and landscape, and proposals for how we can ‘listen more closely’. Some the works will involve collaborations with writers, poets, botanists, architects, scientists, planners and chefs.
The wider theme explores the role of a contemporary art biennial in a country undergoing rapid social change. The second edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale features several new works that respond to this theme, as well as to a series of research trips taken by artists with the curatorial team across Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries.
Taking place in seven halls and across courtyards and terraces in the JAX District, this edition will feature a diverse programme of performances, concerts, and poetry readings culminating from the year-long Biennale Encounters series, which began in April 2023.
See the full artist list below (as of 25 October, 2023). An asterisk indicates a new commission:
Hamra Abbas
Sara Abdu*
Irene Agrivina
Alia Ahmad
Azra Akšamija*
Nabila Al Bassam
Dhali Al Mamoon
Reem Al Nasser
Rasha Al-Duwaisan*
Abdulrahman Al-Soliman
Mohammad AlFaraj*
Abdulla Buhijji & Noor Alwa
Aseel AlYaqoub
El Anatsui
Nazgol Ansarinia
Rasheed Araeen
Siah Armajani
Martha Atienza
Tarek Atoui*
Dana Awartani
Asma Bahmim
Sammy Baloji
Zarina Bhimji
Ursula Biemann
Safeya Binzagr
Rossella Biscotti
Britto Arts Trust*
Muhanned Cader
María Magdalena Campos-Pons
Liu Chuang
Tiffany Chung*
Ade Darmawan
The Migrant Ecologies Project (Lucy Davis and collaborators Zai Tang, Kee Ya Ting and Zachary Chan)
Priyageetha Dia
NJOKOBOK (Youssou Diop and Apolonija Šušteršič)*
Ibrahim El-Salahi
Alia Farid
Christine Fenzl*
Ângela Ferreira
Alexander Eriksson Furunes and Sudarshan Khadka
Simryn Gill
Anne Holtrop*
Hasan Hujairi*
Saodat Ismailova
Joan Jonas
Armin Linke and Ahmed Mater*
Mariah Lookman*
Taus Makhacheva
Małgorzata Mirga-Tas
Regina Maria Möller
James Morris
Tania Mouraud
Zarina Muhammad
Dala Nasser
Hind Nasser
Hussein Nassereddine
Filwa Nazer
Nguyễn Trinh Thi
Elia Nurvista
Phi Phi Oanh
Lucy + Jorge Orta*
Sopheap Pich
Marjetica Potrč
Lala Rukh
Arin Rungjang
Tomás Saraceno
Citra Sasmita*
Seher Shah
Liang Shaoji
Hassan Sharif
Shooshie Sulaiman
Tang Da Wu
Paulo Tavares / autonoma
Sissel Tolaas*
Anaïs Tondeur
Mona Vătămanu & Florin Tudor
Suzann Victor
Munem Wasif
Ines Weizman
Yeo Siew Hua
Liam Young
Camille Zakharia*
Samia Zaru
