emerging new media artists programme

Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), the MENA region’s first New Media Arts hub, has announced a call for applications for the second cycle of its Emerging New Media Artists programme, set to launch in October 2025.

Developed in partnership with Le Fresnoy - Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France, the one-year programme offers access to cutting-edge professional equipment and facilities, a production budget and personal mentorship from prominent international digital and new media artists.

The funded programme launched last November, alongside the highly anticipated opening of DAF in Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The inaugural cohort featured 12 up-and-coming new media and digital artists from 11 countries, with strong representation from Saudi Arabia and the MENA region.

The programme begins with three-months of thematic and conceptual explorations of cutting-edge topics, presented by artists and theorists through seminars, lectures, screenings and workshops. Following this, participants will work under the mentorship of leading artists and scholars to produce new artworks using DAF’s world-class facilities, including advanced audio-visual techniques, immersive reality, coding, sensing, machine learning and spatial audio-visual environments. The final works will be exhibited at DAF as a final curated and juried outcome of the programme.