Art Week Riyadh 2025 Announces Curatorial Team and Program Details

Riyadh, March 3, 2025 – The Visual Arts Commission has unveiled the curatorial team for the highly anticipated first edition of Art Week Riyadh, set to take place from April 6 to 13, 2025. The inaugural event will be curated by Vittoria Matarrese as Artistic Director and Curator, alongside Basma Harasani and Victoria Gandit Lelandais as Associate Curators, and Shumon Basar overseeing the Public Program.

Art Week Riyadh will be headquartered at JAX District, with activations spanning key cultural sites across the city. The event will bring together leading local, regional, and international galleries, cultural institutions, artists, collectors, and patrons, further solidifying Riyadh's role as a global cultural hub.

Themed "At The Edge," this inaugural edition will explore Riyadh’s evolving cultural identity, positioning the city as a space where tradition and modernity intersect. The program will feature a curated selection of works from over 30 local, regional, and international galleries, in addition to a public program of talks, performances, and discussions designed to foster artistic dialogue and engagement.

Matarrese, formerly Director of the Bally Foundation in Switzerland and Palais de Tokyo’s performing arts department in Paris, emphasized the significance of the event, stating:"Art Week Riyadh represents an extraordinary opportunity to engage with a city and region undergoing profound cultural transformation. The inaugural edition, 'At The Edge,' is a platform to explore these shifts and reveal how tradition and acceleration coexist and evolve."

Saudi curator and art advisor Basma Harasani added:"Being the first of its kind, Art Week Riyadh is a testament to the remarkable progress the country has made in establishing itself within the global cultural narrative, while still preserving its authenticity and showcasing the very best the Kingdom has to offer."

Art historian and curator Victoria Gandit Lelandais, a specialist in contemporary art from the Arab world, highlighted the initiative’s role in fostering a sustainable art ecosystem:"The very fact that Art Week Riyadh exists demonstrates the intentional development of a thriving art ecosystem, with a clear vision to foster a healthy environment for growth among all the key players—galleries, artists, institutions, scholars, collectors, and more."

Cultural critic and Gulf-based curator Shumon Basar reflected on the broader significance of the event:"Art Week Riyadh offers a moment to frame everything that has happened arts-wise in Riyadh, in the Kingdom, and in the region over the last years and decades, and to dialogue that with global-scaled conversations in an increasingly multipolar world."

With Riyadh rapidly emerging as a global cultural destination, Art Week Riyadh 2025 is set to provide an unparalleled platform for artistic discourse and collaboration, shaping the future of Saudi Arabia’s contemporary art scene.