Digital Art Futures
Feasibility and Strategic Study
Client: Riyadh Development Authority (RDA)
Location: Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Completed: 2013
Digital Art Futures is an arts, research and educational centre that is a home for New Media Arts and a creative space for the growing arts movement in Saudi Arabia. It is located in the Historical Precinct of Diriyah, next to one of the most important national heritage sites of Saudi Arabia and the capital of the first Saudi State.
In 2013, the RDA appointed Cultural Innovations to undertake a feasibility and strategic study and scoping exercise to review and establish the potential for an arts venue within the Diriyah district. It was envisaged that the addition of an arts-based cultural attraction to the already planned cultural heritage facilities would further enhance the appeal of Diriyah as a major cultural and leisure destination in the Kingdom.
Feasibility Study
Through Cultural Innovations’ experience of working in the region, our contacts with arts practitioners and local research, we were able to recommend an ambitious and visionary arts-focused facility that embraced digital art and new media, multi-disciplinary practice, production and research. These recommendations were received positively. Following an architectural competition which was won by Sciatterlla from Italy, the Ministry of Culture moved forward, in partnership with the Diriyah Gate Development Company, to a successful launch in 2024 of Digital Art Futures supporting the younger, contemporary artist communities now flourishing throughout the Kingdom.
