Scheduled to take place between 11 December 2021 and 11 March 2022 in Diriyah, a historical town located on the outskirts of Riyadh, the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale is the first Saudi biennale of this size aiming to showcase work by dozens of international artists and create a dialogue. 

Focusing on presenting contemporary art from the Kingdom, the participants include over 25 Saudi artists, such as Sarah Abu Abdallah, Hmoud Al Attawi, Zahrah Al Ghamdi, Jowhara AlSaud, Omar Abduljawad, Maha Malluh, among others. International participants include names from Kuwait, Morocco, Germany, Italy, Ireland, UK, New Zealand, Georgia, Kenya, Bahamas, United States, South Africa, Japan, China and Singapore. 

Born in 1969, Ibrahim El-Dessouki is an Egyptian mid-career contemporary visual artist and the only artist from Egypt chosen to showcase his work at Diriyah's biennale.

El-Dessouki's creative influence comes from the 1980s marked by the developing global capitalism, political upheaval, worldwide mass media, wealth discrepancies and distinctive music and fashion, characterised by hip hop and electronic pop music. 

The 1_54 African Art Fair reveals El-Dessouky's biography in those words: "Ibrahim El-Dessouki’s painting style is defined by his unique treatment of paint, accentuated by his ability to create subtle changes in its texture; his unusual use of negative space; and his deft manipulation of shadow and light. While the artist’s genres encompass portraiture, landscape and still life, El Dessouki’s subject matter is very much Egypt-centric, and captures his own unique and hypnotic perspective of the soul and essence of Egypt."

The Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale will be the Kingdom’s first international contemporary art biennale which as the organizers specify aims at providing a platform for discovery, connection and dialogue.

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