Lately, Saudi Arabia seems to have seen its cultural scene blooming, with various new art-related initiatives, such as the 21,39 event for contemporary art and the Jameel Photography Award—and it shows no signs of slowing down.
From February 9-15, Riyadh will host the inaugural edition of Saudi Design Week in order to raise awareness of the importance of creating a Saudi Arabian hub for contemporary design with both emerging regional talents and established international artists.
Labeling itself as “a festival for design and visual culture,” the fair’s program will be divided into exhibitions, workshops, and a Design Forum with panel discussions that will take place in different areas and cultural places of the city center. The confirmed events include a vintage couture pop-up shop and the screening of the fashion documentary Versailles 73 at Harvey Nichols, and two art and design exhibitions at Naila Art Gallery and Lam Art Gallery.
The daily Design Forum panel discussions will be hosted by various art and design experts, such as HRH Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud (CEO, Alfa International), Philip Hoffman (Chief Executive, The Fine Art Fund Group), Cyril Zammit (Fair Director, Design Days Dubai), and Dr. Maha Senan (Executive Director, The Saudi Heritage Preservation Society).
Furthermore, on February 11th at 6pm, Decades of Fashion, a special panel discussion dedicated to various topics of the fashion industry. The discussion will be hosted by Cameron Silver, the founder of Decades, a Los Angeles based vintage Couture boutique, and Deborah Riley Draper, the film director of Versailles 73.
The Saudi Design Week is currently organized by Oasis Magazine in partnership with the King Faisal Foundation for Research and Islamic Studies. Tickets for the Saudi Design Week are on sale on the fair’s website and cost US $14 (AED/SAR 52) per day.
