Diriyah Art Futures Launches CONTINUUM ’26 Exhibition Showcasing Technological Artworks By The Next Generation Of Creative Pioneers

Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), the first centre for New Media Arts in the Middle East and North Africa, today launched its latest exhibition CONTINUUM ’26, showcasing the works of its second cohort of emerging artists and mentors. Visitors explored a diverse range of cutting-edge technological media, including immersive and multimedia installations, light, sound, moving image, virtual reality, mixed reality, and AIgenerated projects.

CONTINUUM ’26 features artworks produced by 16 emerging artists and two mentors during DAF’s year-long Emerging New Media Artists programme. Curated by Irini Papadimitriou, and Bushra Alghamdi, Assistant Curator, the exhibition explores enduring human questions surrounding memory, identity, place, belonging, repetition, and interspecies relationships. Developed under the mentorship of internationally acclaimed artists Louis-Philippe Demers and Rick Treweek, the artworks blur the boundaries between the real and the artificial, the human and machine, the organic and synthetic in diverse and compelling ways.

Speaking at the exhibition launch, Eng. Abdullah Al-Hammad, CEO of the Museums Commission, said: “Programmes like the Emerging New Media Artists Programme represent the long-term, deliberate investment needed to shape the future of the Kingdom’s museum sector. By providing our artists with world-class facilities, mentorship, and the dedicated time to refine their craft, we are fueling innovation and sparking vital cultural conversations. CONTINUUM 26 brings a full year of that dedication into the public eye.”

The exhibition kicked off with a fascinating panel conversation between exhibition artists Noel Apitta, Njood Albwardi, Badriya Alsalem, and Harpreet Sareen, in conversation with Bushra Alghamdi about the ideas behind their works in CONTINUUM ’26. The artists discussed the exhibition’s central themes – systems of power; memory and time; and embodied perception – exploring how each artist navigated their creative process and what questions drove them. CONTINUUM ’26 is the second instalment in a series of exhibitions at DAF, spotlighting diverse voices shaping the future of New Media Art in the region and beyond. The title CONTINUUM reflects the ever-evolving nature of creative inquiry that defines DAF’s groundbreaking Emerging New Media Artists programme.

Developed in collaboration with Le Fresnoy – Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France, the Emerging New Media Artists Programme gives emerging artists access to cuttingedge professional equipment and a production budget, as well as a wide range of multidisciplinary learning opportunities.

CONTINUUM ’26 is open to the public at Diriyah Art Futures and runs until November 7. The exhibition is accompanied by a rich public programme of workshops, talks and other activities spanning AI, VR, digital photography, and much more. This September, enjoy the following:

Experience: Meet the Artists

Friday 4 September 08:00 PM & 09:45 PM | Saturday 5 September 08:00 PM

Language: Arabic and English

An invitation to encounter the works of CONTINUUM ’26 through the perspectives of the artists who made them. Over the opening weekend, artists will be present at their installations to discuss the research, ideas, and processes behind their works, followed by open conversations with visitors. (Free with exhibition ticket, no registration required)

For more information, visit:

Website: www.daf.moc.gov.sa/en | Twitter: @DAFmoc | Instagram: @DAFmoc