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Diriyah Art Futures has opened CONTINUUM ’26, an exhibition that brings together immersive installations, light, sound, moving image, virtual reality, mixed reality, and AI-generated works.

The exhibition presents projects by 16 emerging artists and two mentors from the center’s year-long Emerging New Media Artists Program. Curated by Irini Papadimitriou and Bushra Alghamdi, it examines memory, identity, place, belonging, repetition, and interspecies relationships.

The works were developed under the mentorship of Louis-Philippe Demers and Rick Treweek. They explore the boundaries between the real and the artificial, as well as between human intelligence and artificial intelligence, and between the organic and the synthetic.

At the launch, Museums Commission CEO Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Hammad said: “Programs like the Emerging New Media Artists Program represent the long-term, deliberate investment needed to shape the future of the Kingdom's museum sector. By providing our artists with world-class facilities, mentorship, and the dedicated time to refine their craft, we are fueling innovation and sparking vital cultural conversations. CONTINUUM 26 brings a full year of that dedication into the public eye.”

The opening program included a panel with artists Noel Apitta, Njood Albwardi, Badriya Alsalem, and Harpreet Sareen, who discussed artificial intelligence, memory and time, and embodied perception. Developed with Le Fresnoy in France, the program gives artists professional equipment, production funding, and multidisciplinary learning opportunities. CONTINUUM ’26 remains open at Diriyah Art Futures until November 7, with workshops and talks on AI, virtual reality, digital photography, and other subjects.

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Programs like the Emerging New Media Artists Program represent the long-term, deliberate investment needed to shape the future of the Kingdom's museum sector. By providing our artists with world-class facilities, mentorship, and the dedicated time to refine their craft, we are fueling innovation and sparking vital cultural conversations. CONTINUUM 26 brings a full year of that dedication into the public eye.