Noor Riyadh Celebrates Outstanding Second Edition

Noor Riyadh, the largest light art festival in the world, has concluded the 2022/23 season after captivating local communities and an international audience from across the globe with a series of spectacular events.

From November 3 to 19, 2022, the second edition of the Noor Riyadh festival saw more than 190 artworks and installations by more than 130 artists illuminate 40 citywide locations, showcasing immersive site-specific installations, monumental public artworks, ephemeral sculptures, art trails, virtual reality, projections and drone shows. The artworks utilized the medium of light from leading international and Saudi artists to transform the capital into a dazzling center for artistic activity and display – exemplifying the fervent belief of Riyadh Art, Noor Riyadh’s organizers, that art is for all.

Noor Riyadh is among the multiple programs developed by Riyadh Art as it progresses to turn the capital into a creative canvas, a “gallery without walls”, by fostering an environment for creative expression and a thriving creative economy.

The exhibition From Spark to Spirit – which explored themes such as the ‘Technologies of Light’, ‘Architectonics of Light’ and ‘Consciousness of Light’ – accompanied the festival and ran at the JAX District until March 10, 2023. The exhibition ran for more than four months, after an extension of 35 days was secured allowing the public more time to engage with the light-based artworks.

This edition of Noor Riyadh – tripling in scale from the inaugural event in 2021 – welcomed more than 2.8 million visitors, residents, and travelers alike, providing memories to last a lifetime.

Khaled Al-Hazani, Executive Director of the Riyadh Art Program, said: “Noor Riyadh’s theme for its second edition was ‘We Dream of New Horizons’. Within this phrase was a sense of hopefulness for the future – and that has been amplified enormously from what Noor Riyadh has created over the past few months.

“Noor Riyadh has gone above and beyond our expectations, not only in its size and caliber, but also in the reception of the public, with millions of visitors experiencing the festival during its run. We aimed to receive 1 million visitors in the second edition of Noor Riyadh and almost 3 million people from the KSA and the world honored us with their presence at the festival and its exhibition. Seeing how the festival has resonated with the public affirms the overarching goals of the Riyadh Art initiative, which include transforming the capital into a cosmopolitan global city where art and culture can flourish. In addition, Riyadh Art wants to bolster the city’s creative economy, attracting talent and businesses to invest in the city as it undergoes this dynamic change,” he added.

For this edition, renowned names in light art were brought together with an expanding roster of emerging and established local artists – many for whom light was a new artistic medium – within Saudi Arabia. The festival included at least 90 new commissions from international artists such as Daniel Buren, Shohei Fujimoto, Douglas Gordon, Tadashi Kawamata, Alicja Kwade and Jean-Michel Othoniel. They were joined by Saudi artists such as Ahaad Alamoudi, Abdullah AlOthman, Daniah Al Saleh, Rashed AlShashai, Sarah Brahim, Bricklab, and Muhannad Shono. More than a third of artists at Noor Riyadh were from Saudi Arabia.

In addition, they were joined by participants from 40 countries as far and wide as Madagascar, Uganda, Japan, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Poland, France, United Kingdom and United States. The festival was co-curated by Hervé Mikaeloff, Dorothy Di Stefano and Jumana Ghouth. Meanwhile, From Spark to Spirit was curated by Neville Wakefield (lead curator) and Gaida AlMogren (associate curator).

Artworks for Noor Riyadh were accompanied by a diverse public program of more than 500 special activities, including tours, talks, workshops, family activities, film screenings, and music.

Noor Riyadh’s mesmerizing displays not only captivated visitors, but set astounding new records officially noted by adjudicators at the Guinness World Records™. The following six Guinness World Records™ titles were achieved by Noor Riyadh during the edition:

•           ‘Largest Mesh Screen on a Building’ and ‘Highest Mesh Screen on a Building’ for the installation and light performance titled Pulse of Light on Riyadh’s Kingdom Tower

•           Pulse of Light also achieved the ‘Largest Laser Show’ in terms of area covered and the ‘Longest Distance Covered by a Laser Light Show’

•           ‘Most Drones Performing an Aerial Dance Display’ was awarded for Marc Brickman’s unforgettable aerial installations – The order of chaos: chaos in order and
K A L E I D O S C O P E – using 1,990 drones as their medium

•           And last, but most certainly not least, Noor Riyadh achieved the Guinness World Record title of ‘Largest Light Art Festival’ with a total of 201 installations across the festival and exhibition, surpassing the minimum requirement of 185 installations.

Launched in 2021, Noor Riyadh is part of the broader Riyadh Art program, one of the largest public art projects undertaken in the world today. As Riyadh Art develops, it will present more than 1,000 artworks across Saudi Arabia’s capital. Among its 12 programs, two have been launched, specifically Noor Riyadh and Tuwaiq Sculpture, an annual sculpture symposium that brings together artists to create large-scale works that will become part of the city’s fabric. With Vision 2030 as its guiding force, Riyadh Art will continue its mission to make the capital more livable and lovable for all.