Fifth edition of Misk Art Week

Misk Art Institute (MAI) is excited to announce the fifth edition of Misk Art Week, the Institute’s annual flagship event. Taking place from December 1–5, Misk Art Week is a central feature in Saudi Arabia’s cultural calendar, engaging creatives through dynamic programming, providing a critical platform for the creative community, and offering a space for cultural dialogue and exchange among artists and cultural leaders.

This year’s theme, Takween: Form, invites audiences to explore identity through the lenses of art, design, and architecture. A core element of Misk Art Week is the creative forum, comprised of five days of talks, panels, roundtables, masterclasses, and workshops, featuring guest speakers working at the cutting-edge of their fields including Simon Njami (writer, curator, and co-founder of Revue Noire Journal), Dr. Maha Senan (Cultural Advisor at the Saudi Ministry of Culture, Saudi Shura council member, and art historian), Prince Faisal Bin Ayyaf (Mayor of Riyadh Region), Wael Al Awar (architectural designer, co-curator of the UAE Pavilion 2021 at the Venice Architecture Biennale, and winner of the 2021 Golden Lion), and  Moath AlOafi (artist, founder of artistic studio Al-Mthba, and co-founder of Erth Team) among others, addressing topics including Saudi identity as seen through art, humancentric design, landmarks in Riyadh, artificial intelligence, and digital nostalgia. Alongside the forum, Misk Art Week presents over 40 workshops, focusing on exploring identity through different mediums, with the aim of placing community engagement and outreach at its very core. Once again, the event adopts a hybrid format, taking place at the Faisal bin Fahd Arts Hall in Riyadh and online via the Institute’s website.

This seminal event unveils new works by Saudi and Arab artists as part of the second iteration of the Institute’s pioneering Misk Art Grant, the most ambitious art grant in the region, offering a unique opportunity for emerging and mid-career artists to realize their dream projects through rigorous mentorship programs with renowned curators and specialists. Now in its second year, the Grant has expanded its geographical scope to include Arab artists alongside Saudi nationals, with the 2021 recipients also hailing from Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. The Institute has also doubled the Grant funds to one million Saudi Riyals (266,632 USD) distributed among nine artists and collectives. 

Additional highlights include a showcase of works created in the second iteration of the Masaha Residency program, presenting works by 10 visual artists and, for the first time in the region, one writer-in-residence, under the theme of HOME: Being and Belonging. With many residents making their artistic debut in Saudi Arabia, the three-month cycle offers a space for an inspiring exchange of cultural conversations, with participating residents travelling from countries including United Kingdom, Guatemala, Morocco, India, South Korea, and from across Saudi Arabia.

Misk Art Institute’s annual international exhibition, Here, Now / هنا، الآن curated by Sacha Craddock running from October 3 to January 30, 2022, features works across a wide range of media including paintings, textiles, sculptures, immersive installations, and digital works. Exploring the theme of identity, this group exhibition encourages visitors to engage with the artworks in an interactive and reflective way and is among the first in the Saudi capital to present works by both Saudi and international artists.

Virtual tours (in English and Arabic) of Here, Now / هنا، الآن and the Misk Art Grant exhibition will be made available online via the Misk Art Institute website.

For Saudi press inquiries: media@miskartinstitute.org
For international press inquiries:  rachael@pelhamcommunications.com