The third edition of the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, titled “In Interludes and Transitions”, opened to the public on January 30, 2026, and ran through May 2. Organized by the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, the Biennale took place at JAX, Diriyah’s creative district, near the UNESCO World Heritage Site At-Turaif.
Led by Co-Artistic Directors Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed, In Interludes and Transitions was conceived as a choreography in which histories, ancestors, and migrations moved together through song, stories, dance, and whirlwinds. It unfolded across multiple movements inspired by the flows, migrations, and transformations that have long connected the Arab region with the wider world. The 2026 edition featured the work of 68 artists representing more than 37 countries and included over 25 new commissions.
The exhibition scenography, created by design studio Formafantasma, reimagined JAX’s industrial architecture as a weightless arrangement of color and form. The design guided visitors through a fluid composition of shifting planes and curved passages, creating a continuous and immersive journey across 12,900 square meters of exhibition halls, courtyards, and terraces.
The 2026 edition foregrounded musicality as a way of exploring the vital role that oral and aural forms of knowledge transmission have played in preserving social histories in the Arab region and beyond. This was exemplified through a specially commissioned procession by Saudi artist Mohammed Alhamdan (7amdan), titled Folding the Tents (2026), which moved through the Wadi Hanifah valley and the JAX District, culminating in a performance by the musical group Miniawy Trio. Supported by Lexus, the performance saw the multidisciplinary artist explore the evolving nature of processions and the adaptability of an ancient practice in the age of electric, electronic, and digital culture, drawing connections between gestures of the past and contemporary artistic expressions.
Aya Al-Bakree, CEO of the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, welcomed audiences from near and far to the 2026 edition, noting that it marked the foundation’s fifth biennale since its inception. She highlighted the breadth of artistic practices presented across regions and disciplines, reflecting a dynamic moment in global artistic production, with an increasing diversity of voices and centers of creative activity gaining visibility. She also underscored the foundation’s continued commitment to supporting artists, fostering cultural exchange, and investing in the local community, with JAX District serving as a hub for creativity in Saudi Arabia and beyond.
Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed reflected that In Interludes and Transitions invited audiences to move through and alongside the biennale, engaging with artworks and ideas that responded to a world defined by movement and transformation. The exhibition emphasized a perspective shaped not by fixed origins, but by intersecting routes, rhythms, and relationships.
