Monday 21 / October / 2024
Diriyah: Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), the MENA region’s first hub dedicated to new media and digital art, has announced a call for applications for its inaugural Mazra’ah Media Art Residency for experienced artists and scholars, according to a press release from DAF.
Running from February to April 2025, the three-month residency offers two distinct tracks for artists and scholars established in the fields of new media and digital arts. Designed to foster innovation and intellectual exchange across disciplines, the residency provides participants with access to world-class studios, production labs, and a production budget.
Work developed during the residencies will be showcased through exhibitions or incorporated into scholarly publications facilitated by DAF and its network of regional and international partners. There will also be opportunities for broader recognition and engagement through additional exhibitions, publications, and artist monographs. DAF will offer comfortable and inspiring living spaces while creating opportunities for participants to connect with a diverse network of peers and professionals from across Saudi Arabia and the world.
DAF, a state-of-the-art amalgamation of school, laboratory, and exhibition space, is set to launch later this year. Located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Diriyah, the 6,550-square-meter hub, designed by the Italian architectural firm Schiattarella Associati, brings together artists and technologists at the intersection of past, present, and future.
The word “Mazra’ah” means “farm” in Arabic, a reference to DAF’s location overlooking the preserved farms and archaeological sites of Diriyah. Residents will enjoy views of these farms, which have provided a crucial source of sustenance since the time of historic Diriyah, the capital of the first Saudi state. They are invited to embrace this creative and scholarly retreat, hidden from the bustle of daily life, where they can reflect on how relationships between humans, nature, and technology can sustain and enrich life.
The 2025 residency theme, High-Resolution Dreams of Sand, celebrates DAF as a beacon of critical, creative, and scholarly development, amplifying regional perspectives in new media and digital art. The theme encourages participants to produce work that engages with the context of DAF’s physical location adjacent to Diriyah’s farms and interrogates the bridge between history and the future, inviting reflections on humanity’s relationship with nature and technology. Residency proposals should resonate with contemporary issues, regional interests, and global narratives, especially those emerging from the MENA region and the Global Majority.
Acting CEO of the Museums Commission Ibrahim Alsanousi said: “The Mazra’ah Media Art Residency represents Saudi Arabia’s commitment to developing the country’s cultural ecosystem and transforming Riyadh into a global hub for new media and digital art. Through these efforts, we are establishing the Kingdom as a hub of cultural exchange, pioneering new forms of expression in the heart of one of our most cherished historic districts.”
Director at DAF Dr. Haytham Nawar said: “This dynamic residency offers established artists and scholars an unparalleled opportunity to develop new creative practices and contribute to global scholarly discussions on new media art through a regional perspective. We invite those passionate about these rapidly evolving fields to apply. This is where the impossible comes to life.”
Artists applying for the artist track should be established and practicing in new media and digital art, working across sound media, visual media, and computational, biological, scientific, or technology-related methodologies. DAF will also consider established writers, scholars, and theorists in new media and digital art, or technology and culture, for the scholars’ track. DAF welcomes applications from across the world and encourages participation from the MENA region.
Interested candidates can learn more about the criteria and proposals and apply for the Mazra’ah Media Art Residency until January 20, 2025.
