Diriyah Art Futures Announces 'Maknana: An Archaeology of New Media Art in the Arab World' Exhibition

Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) announced in a press release today that its second major exhibition titled Maknana: An Archaeology of New Media Art in the Arab World will run from April 21 to July 19, 2025, at DAF in Diriyah, Riyadh.
 Bringing together works by more than 40 artists from the MENA region, Maknana features pioneering voices from across the region who have embraced and redefined technology as a medium for creative expression.
 Spanning decades and disciplines, from early video art and experimental film to generative systems and expanded media, Maknana offers a rare survey of how Arab artists have engaged with and reimagined the digital landscape on their own terms.
 According to the release, the Arabic term ‘Maknana’, translated as automation, inspires the exhibition’s central inquiry: how Arab artists have navigated, repurposed, and challenged technologies to shape their own creative vocabularies.
 The exhibition is structured across four thematic sections: Automation, Autonomy, Ripples, and Glitch, which trace recurring artistic concerns and gestures across different generations, geographies, and technological paradigms.
 In tandem with the exhibition, Diriyah Art Futures will present a public program of talks, performances, screenings, and workshops, expanding on the themes of Maknana and offering visitors direct engagement with artists and thought leaders in the field of new media art.