Maknana: An Archaeology of New Media Art in the Arab World

Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), the MENA region’s first hub dedicated to New Media Art, launched its second major exhibition: Maknana: An Archaeology of New Media Art in the Arab World. Co-curated by Haytham Nawar and Ala Younis, the exhibition runs until July 19 2025 at DAF’s landmark venue in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Diriyah, in Saudi Arabia. 

Developed by the Saudi Museums Commission, one of the eleven sector-specific commissions of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture, DAF is an arts, research and education hub driven by a belief in the power of interdisciplinary creative practice at the intersection of art, science, and technology. In line with DAF’s mission to amplify the voice of the Middle East and North Africa region in its engagement with art, science, and technology, Maknana exhibition presents an unprecedented survey of Arab artists working with and through digital technologies. Featuring over 70 artworks by more than 40 artists from across the Arab world and international diaspora, the show traces decades of experimentation with video, film, sound, data, installation, and code, highlighting regional artists as central figures in the global evolution of New Media Art.

The Arabic word Maknana translates loosely as “automation” or “mechanisation,” and provides the conceptual starting point for the exhibition’s central inquiry: how have Arab artists adopted, repurposed, and subverted technology as a tool for expression, critique, and speculation? Structured across four thematic sections, Automation, Autonomy, Ripples, and Glitch, the exhibition positions New Media not only as a medium, but as a critical lens through which to read cultural memory, socio-political rupture, and digital futures.

The exhibition features works by artists working across time and geography, ranging from early pioneers such as Samia Halaby (Palestine/USA) and Effat Nagy (Egypt) to contemporary Saudi artists, including Muhannad Shono and Ahmed Mater, and the wider region, such as Walid Raad (Lebanon) and Farah Al-Qasimi (UAE).

Mona Khazindar, Advisor to the Ministry of Culture, commented: “This exhibition reflects the region’s rich history of artists who have embraced and experimented with technological mediums to push creative barriers and respond to the questions of their time. It represents Saudi Arabia’s ongoing efforts to celebrate the Arab world’s pioneering artists, while also opening doors to global creative and technological innovators of the future, through an inspiring range of talent and artworks.”

Maknana foregrounds the Arab world as a site of both innovation and resistance, revealing how regional artists have long mobilised technology as both a tool of production and a means of rewriting dominant narratives. Many of the works on view emerge from contexts of constraint, where limited access to equipment prompted highly inventive and politically resonant use of available media.

The exhibition draws connections between early avant-garde experiments in the 1960s and 70s and today’s digital cultures shaped by AI, surveillance, and virtual worlds. With contributions from over a dozen countries, including Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, Sudan, Morocco, Kuwait, UAE, Algeria, Syria, and Saudi Arabia, Maknana offers a regional archaeology of practice that expands the canon of New Media Art.