LONDON: Saudi Arabia’s first art biennale will be curated by Philip Tinari, the director and CEO of China’s leading contemporary art institution. The head of the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, he is an internationally renowned curator and critic.
Initiated by the Ministry of Culture and organized by the Thunaiyat Ad-Diriyah Foundation (TADF), the 2021 Ad-Diriyah Biennale will be the Kingdom’s largest and most significant international exhibition of contemporary art. It will include six sections featuring works from nearly 70 national and international artists on a variety of themes, with the aim of engaging visitors in a dialogue about contemporary art, according to the Ministry of Culture.
“The Ad-Diriyah Biennale will offer a new platform for exchange between the Saudi and international art worlds, as well as an unprecedented chance for broad audiences in the Kingdom to encounter global contemporary art,” Tinari said.
The curatorial team for the event also includes Wejdan Reda, the Saudi curator and founder of Sahaba Art Consultancy; Shixuan Luan, a curator at UCCA; and Neil Zhang, an assistant curator at the center.
TADF will organize in alternating years two biennales with distinct profiles: the Ad-Diriyah Biennale, with a spotlight on contemporary art, and the Islamic Biennale, focusing on Islamic art.
