Noor Riyadh 2025 is curated by Mami Kataoka (Curatorial Advisory Lead), Li Zhenhua (Curator), and Sara Almutlaq (Curator) (I see you brightest in the dark by Muhannad Shono, Noor Riyadh 2022)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
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The festival is part of the broader Riyadh Art\u00a0program, one of the city\u2019s four mega projects launched under the Kingdom\u2019s Vision 2030, which aims to embed creativity into the everyday life of the capital. To date, Riyadh Art has brought together more than 500 artists and delivered over 6,500 community engagement activities, contributing to a growing collection of public artworks across the city.<\/p>\n
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Notably, the\u00a0Riyadh Art Collection\u00a0includes major works by artists like\u00a0Alexander Calder,\u00a0Jeff Koons, and\u00a0Robert Indiana, whose sculptures are now iconic landmarks at metro stations and city squares. Additionally, new commissions like \u2018Echoes of Land\u2019\u00a0by\u00a0Davide Rivalta\u00a0invite urban communities to re-engage with nature through public bronze forms in Riyadh\u2019s parks. These installations form part of a long-term vision: to make art accessible, participatory, and integrated into everyday life.<\/p>\n
the festival unfolds across two distinct yet interconnected narratives (Earthtime 1.26 Riyadh by Janet Echelman, Noor Riyadh 2023. )<\/p>\n
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In 2026, the narrative shifts from light to material in Tuwaiq Sculpture, returning under the theme \u2018Traces of What Will Be.\u2019 Set within Riyadh\u2019s Tahlia District, once home to the city\u2019s first desalination plant, the symposium transforms an industrial landscape into a creative workshop. The program allows visitors to observe sculptors working live, chiseling, welding, and shaping works from local stone and reclaimed metal.<\/p>\n
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These materials, chosen for their embedded histories, link geological time with industrial memory. The resulting sculptures are being permanently installed across key districts, including Qasr Al-Hukm, forming a dispersed museum that maps Riyadh\u2019s evolution in stone and steel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
through the festival, light becomes both medium and metaphor (Future Herbarium by Laurent Grasso, Noor Riyadh 2023)<\/p>\n
kinetic sculptures and interactive environments trace the movement of people, visualize connectivity, and reflect Riyadh\u2019s dynamic evolution (Infinity Mirror Room\u2014Brilliance of the Souls by Yayoi Kusama, Noor Riyadh 2021)<\/p>\n
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the theme honors the city\u2019s past while embracing rapid change, using light to spark new perspectives in science, society, and self (Amplexus by Grimanesa Amor\u00f3s, Noor Riyadh 2022)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
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walkways glow underfoot, while towering installations rotate and shimmer (Submergence by Squidsoup, Noor Riyadh 2021.)<\/p>\n
Noor Riyadh invites residents and visitors to experience the capital in a new, illuminated dimension (Ghosts of Today and Tomorrow by Ahaad Alamoudi, Noor Riyadh 2022)<\/p>\n
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project info:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n name:<\/strong> Noor Riyadh 2025<\/a> | @noorriyadhfestival<\/a><\/p>\n organization:<\/strong> Riyadh Art<\/a><\/p>\n curation:<\/strong> Mami Kataoka<\/a>, Li Zhenhua<\/a>, and Sara Almutlaq<\/a><\/p>\n dates:<\/strong> 20 November \u2013 6 December, 2025<\/p>\n location:<\/strong> Riyadh, Saudi Arabia<\/p>\n The post light festival noor riyadh illuminates city with interactive installations \u2018in the blink of an eye\u2019<\/a> appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" noor riyadh returns from 20 November to 6 December \u00a0 In Riyadh, creativity is reshaping the very fabric of the city as Noor Riyadh, the world\u2019s largest festival of light and art and part of … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[142],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n