Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), a pioneering new media arts hub in Saudi Arabia, has announced the 18 successful applicants to the second edition of its Emerging New Media Artists Program. Running from November 2025 to September 2026, the cohort includes a diverse array of promising talent representing a broad range of creative practices and backgrounds, with strong representation from Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region.
Running for one year, the fully supported program offers access to cutting-edge professional facilities, a production budget, learning experiences with international guest professors specialising in new media art, and personal mentorships from prominent international digital artists. The program concludes with CONTINUUM, an annual exhibition that celebrates and showcases the works created by its participants.
Emerging New Media Artists
The second group of Emerging New Media Artists includes Fai Ahmed (Saudi), a media artist exploring collective memory and the politics of technology; Njood Albawardi (Saudi), a media artist working with immersive technologies and interactive systems to examine identity and presence; Foreseen – Pat Wong and Kachi Chen (Hong Kong), an artist duo creating XR installations critiquing the ethics of data capitalism and bodiless digital existence; Harpreet Sareen (India), a designer and researcher hybridising organic and digital systems; Gabriela Itzel Reyes Jasso (Mexico), a visual programmer and new media artist investigating light, space, and sensory perception; Hiba Nusrat Ali (USA), a digital artist and scholar developing immersive environments through the framework of ‘digital somatics’; Ezzat Morad Abbas Ali Shamsan (Yemen), a filmmaker and visual artist exploring collective memory, urban decay, and postcolonial narratives through immersive digital media; Noel Apitta (Uganda), an audiovisual artist working with light, space, and sound to create generative installations; Declan Colquitt (United Kingdom), one half of the post-disciplinary duo Y7, exploring AI, recommendation algorithms, and cultural criticism; Evgenii Popov (Russia), an interdisciplinary artist using generative systems, lasers, and sound to shape immersive sensory environments; Omar Adel (Egypt), a visual artist researching geo-specific landscapes and poetic traditions in relation to Gulf futurism; Ahmad Aiuby (Egypt), a media artist examining AI as a neo-colonial agent through immersive and interactive environments; Mena El Shazly (Egypt), a visual artist working with analogue video, embroidery, and performance to explore decay and transformation; Badria Alsalem (Kuwait), an architect and researcher investigating Arab astronomy and environmental temporal logics; Linda Dong (China), a filmmaker and multimedia artist exploring cultural dislocation, memory, and identity; Dina Khalil (Egypt), an XR artist creating inclusive, interactive experiences celebrating diverse cultures and communities; and Yasir Thani (Nigeria/Sudan), a media artist combining immersive technologies and photogrammetry to explore cultural memory.
Designed in collaboration with Le Fresnoy – Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France, the Emerging New Media Artists Program is part of the Saudi Ministry of Culture’s efforts to facilitate creativity across art, technology, and academia. Located in Diriyah, home of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of At-Turaif, DAF is establishing Riyadh as a global capital of new media art by empowering the next generation of artists and scholars.
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