The fifth edition of the most significant art festival in Saudi Arabia, Noor Riyadh, showcases 60 works by international artists in the city. Held under the motto, In the Blink of an Eye the festival gathers artworks that portray the speedy transformation of Riyadh. Curated by Mami Kataoka (Curatorial Advisory Lead and Director at Tokyo’s Mori Art Museum), Li Zhenhua (curator and founder of Beijing Art Lab), and Riyadh-based curator Sara Almutlaq, the event presents 35 new commissions, among works from 59 artists from 24 countries. Large art pieces will be presented in open-air locations on a route that includes both historic and contemporary buildings, and the modern silhouette of the city’s prize-winning metro system.
From kinetic art pieces to the celestial rhythms
The façade of KAFD Metro Station will host Vali Chincișan’s The Vision Grid, 2025, featuring oscillating patterns synchronised to an electronic score. Christophe Berthonneaus’ Synthesis made in collaboration with the Hungarian artist László Zsolt Bordos, opens up a conversation between art and engineering. A kinetic piece employs drones, architecture, and mapping to create the illusion of a levitating building. The façade features geometric forms, while drones elevate the light’s movement high into the sky. László Zsolt Bordos’ solo piece, Astrum, 2025, connects the cosmos with Riyadh and all its viewers. Placed atop Al Faisaliah Tower, this moving art piece uses lasers to direct the viewers to astronomical bodies in real time.
When the Sky Reaches the Ground – (a moment frozen), 2025 presents a massive frozen lightning bolt made from neon and grid scaffolding. The artist James Clar captured an ephemeral moment of otherworldly speed and enormous energy, which symbolized technological advancements and the multitude of ways that the communication systems shape our perception of reality. The Italian art and architecture collective fuse* have created a multisensory experience inside a square metal structure. The art piece entitled Luna Somnium, 2025, aligns with the rhythms of the orbit, turning a scientific observation into a contemplative fantasy.
Art by local artists
Place of History’s Inscription, 2025 by Abdulrahman AlSoliman revives the artist’s geometric cubist language through animation. The work projected onto the Al-Masmak Fort represents the study of geometry and structure reinterpreted through the medium of moving image. Ahmad Angawi’s Algorithms of Light: The Falcon, 2025, draws inspiration from Saudi falcon and Najdi Sadu patterns. The art piece explores the intersection of motion, tradition, and transformation. Fatma Abdulhadi creates an illusory garden, a space for pause and reflection. As visitors move through space, different shadows come to the front: the shadow of self, the shadow of fabrics, and the shadow of time.
Noor Riyadh opens on November 20
Noor Riyadh premiered in 2021. Over time, the event hosted over 550 artworks made by 500 artists and welcomed a whopping 9.6 million visitors. The festival, presented by Riyadh Art under the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, will run from November 20 to December 6, 2025. It will span across the metropolis to include city landmarks and popular locations, including Al Faisaliah Tower, Jax District Riyadh Art Space, KAFD and stc Metro Stations, as well as the historic buildings Qasr Al Hokm District and King Abdulaziz Historical Center.
Source: v2com
