Artist in residence programme aims to propel Neom forward
Neom has recently completed an ‘artist in residence’ programme in order to influence the city’s development projects over the coming years, according The National on March 2nd.
Neom is a $500 billion mega-project in Saudi Arabia, designed to be ‘the land of the future’ through developments like The Line, Oxagon, and Aquellem as reported by Maghrebi.
According to Micheal Lynch, Neom’s executive director of entertainment, culture, and media, artists: “Building a city isn’t just about roads and structures, artists have a place in both the present and future of Saudi Arabia.”
The programme brought four Saudi artists- Bilal Allaf, Ahaad Alamoudi, Abdulmohsen Al Bin Ali, and Ayman Zedani – alongside international participants Eduardo Cassina (Spain), Tamara Kalo (Lebanon), Giulia Bruno (Italy), and Liva Dudareva (Latvia).
In collaboration with the Dubai-based Alserkal Arts Foundation, the residency sought to provide an opporrtunity to inquisitive, emerging artists rather than established figures.
Allaf, a performance artist, collaborated with an engineer in residence to create a dance piece featuring a robot, leading the engineer to explore artistic applications of robotics.
Ali examined the region’s bird migration patterns, drawing links between flight paths, mythology, and social history.
Cassina discovered a 1960s Japanese sewing machine and used it to create a 20-metre tapestry mapping Neom’s history from the Nabataeans to the present and Alamoudi produced a film capturing Neom’s evolving landscape.
The residency unfolded in three phases: artists first visited Neom to engage with its landscape and projects.
They then traveled to Madrid’s Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary foundation to reflect within an established artistic scene.
Finally, they returned to Neom, developing works that culminated in an exhibition for the city’s 5,500 residents and visiting consultants.
Artists collaborated with engineers, urban planners, and sustainability experts: “You’ll get as many good ideas from artists as from architects or futurists,” says Lynch.
The programme aimed to provoke new ways of thinking, setting the stage for future residencies.
Though brief, the exhibition affirmed that culture is as integral to Neom’s vision as its physical developments, reinforcing that a city’s identity is built not just with steel and glass, but with imagination and artistic inquiry.
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