Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Diplomacy Through Art: Biennales, Venice, and the Global Stage
Saudi Arabia’s deployment of contemporary art as a diplomatic instrument has accelerated to a pace and scale that has fundamentally altered the Kingdom’s international cultural profile. In the span of five years, Saudi Arabia has moved from near-invisibility on the global art stage to a position where its biennales attract hundreds of thousands of visitors, its artists represent the nation at Venice, its institutions partner with the Vatican and the Louvre, and its cultural programs generate more international media coverage than those of nations with centuries of established cultural infrastructure.
This transformation is not accidental. It is the product of a deliberate cultural diplomacy strategy embedded within Vision 2030’s objective of creating opportunities for international cultural exchange. The Ministry of Culture, under Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, has positioned cultural activity as a means of reshaping international perceptions of Saudi Arabia, building relationships with global cultural institutions, and creating a national narrative that emphasizes creativity, openness, and cosmopolitanism alongside the Kingdom’s existing identity as a custodian of Islamic heritage.
The Venice Biennale: Saudi Arabia on the World Stage
The Venice Biennale represents the most prestigious platform for national cultural representation in the contemporary art world, and Saudi Arabia’s engagement with Venice has become a central element of its cultural diplomacy strategy. Manal AlDowayan represented Saudi Arabia at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024, bringing her practice, which explores the politics of visibility, memory, gender, and female identity in Saudi Arabia, to the global art world’s most important gathering. AlDowayan, who grew up in the Saudi Aramco compound in Dhahran in the 1980s, studied computer science at Boston’s Suffolk University, and spent a decade as a programmer at Aramco before becoming an artist, embodies the narrative of personal and national transformation that Saudi cultural diplomacy seeks to project.
Her selection was diplomatically significant because her work directly addresses themes of gender and identity that have been central to international discourse about Saudi society. By choosing an artist whose practice engages with these themes rather than avoiding them, Saudi Arabia signaled a cultural diplomacy approach based on authentic artistic expression rather than sanitized national branding. AlDowayan’s permanent installation at Wadi AlFann, “The Oasis of Stories,” a labyrinthine architectonic sculpture inspired by the mud walls of AlUla’s Old Town with walls inscribed with personal histories and folklore, further demonstrates how her practice integrates national cultural heritage with contemporary artistic investigation.
Muhannad Shono’s representation of Saudi Arabia at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022 established the Kingdom’s presence at Venice with “The Teaching Tree,” a large-scale installation using over 10,000 palm fronds and robotic elements to create a breathing, evolving form symbolizing the resilience of creative thought. Shono, who was born in Riyadh to Circassian parents (his Chechen father and Karachay mother born in Damascus after their family fled Stalin’s persecution), brought a personal narrative of migration and identity that resonated with global audiences while representing Saudi artistic production.
Dana Awartani, born in Jeddah in 1987 to a family of Palestinian descent, has been announced as Saudi Arabia’s representative at an upcoming Venice Biennale. Awartani’s practice, which draws on Islamic and Arab art traditions, sacred geometry, and themes of cultural destruction and healing, carries diplomatic weight through its engagement with heritage and contemporary global concerns. Her education at Central St Martin’s and the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in London, combined with collections in the Guggenheim Museum New York, the British Museum, and the Hirshhorn Museum, positions her as an artist with both deep cultural roots and international institutional validation.
The Noor Riyadh Venice preview at Fondazione Querini Stampalia from October 19 to November 23, 2025, extended Saudi cultural diplomacy through Venice by introducing international audiences to the festival’s “In the Blink of an Eye” theme in a capsule exhibition. This initiative demonstrates how Saudi cultural programs are using Venice not just for biennale representation but as a platform for broader cultural outreach.
The Vatican Partnership: Unprecedented Cultural Exchange
The first Vatican-Saudi Arabia collaborative exhibition at the second Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah in 2025 represents one of the most diplomatically significant cultural exchanges in recent memory. The Vatican Apostolic Library’s loan of rare manuscripts, including a Fibonacci manuscript exhibited alongside al-Khwarizmi’s mathematical treatise, and the display of 17th-century Vatican-held maps alongside Qatar-owned maps shown together for the first time, created scholarly and diplomatic connections across religious, cultural, and political boundaries.
The unprecedented display of Kiswah panels outside of Mecca, the black damask panels embroidered in gold that cover the Ka’bah, carried profound spiritual and diplomatic significance. By making these sacred objects available for exhibition for the first time outside their ritual context, Saudi Arabia demonstrated a confidence in sharing its most important cultural and religious heritage with the world. This act of cultural openness, particularly within an exhibition that also featured Vatican artifacts, communicated a diplomatic message of interfaith dialogue and cultural exchange that no formal diplomatic communication could achieve with equal impact.
The contributing institutions for the Islamic Arts Biennale, including the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, represent relationships with cultural institutions of the highest international standing. Each institutional loan involves negotiations, legal agreements, conservation requirements, and diplomatic courtesies that build relationship infrastructure between Saudi Arabia and lending nations. The biennale’s representation of often-overlooked regions including sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern and Southeastern Asia extended Saudi cultural diplomacy beyond traditional Western and Gulf partnerships into a broader global frame.
Travelling Exhibitions and Outbound Diplomacy
Saudi Arabia’s cultural diplomacy is not limited to attracting international audiences to the Kingdom. The Art of the Kingdom travelling exhibition, presented at Paco Imperial in Rio de Janeiro and curated by Diana Wechsler under the theme “Poetic Illuminations,” brought 17 leading Saudi contemporary artists to the Brazilian public. This exhibition represents a deliberate strategy of cultural outreach that takes Saudi art to audiences in regions where Saudi Arabia has not traditionally had a strong cultural presence.
The choice of Brazil as a destination is diplomatically strategic: Latin America represents a region where Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its diplomatic relationships beyond traditional Western and Asian partnerships. Cultural exhibition provides a non-political framework for engagement that creates positive associations and builds people-to-people connections that supplement formal diplomatic channels.
The Diriyah Biennale Foundation’s institutional partnerships create ongoing diplomatic relationships with curatorial communities worldwide. The appointment of international artistic directors and curators for the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, including Philip Tinari for the inaugural edition, Ute Meta Bauer for the second edition, and Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed for the third edition, creates networks of cultural professionals who have deep engagement with Saudi cultural institutions and who carry that engagement into their subsequent professional activities globally.
Desert X AlUla: Cultural Diplomacy Through Landscape
Desert X AlUla operates as cultural diplomacy through the medium of landscape engagement. The partnership between the Royal Commission for AlUla and the California-based Desert X organization, under artistic directors Neville Wakefield and Raneem Farsi, creates a binational cultural framework where American curatorial practice engages with Saudi landscape and community. With over 50 artwork projects produced across its editions, the exhibition has brought international artists from South Korea, Ghana, Lebanon, Mexico, Iraq, Kuwait, Italy, and Algeria to AlUla, creating cultural connections that extend well beyond the bilateral Saudi-American relationship.
The third edition, “In the Presence of Absence” (2024), included works by Kimsooja from South Korea, Ibrahim Mahama from Ghana, Rana Haddad and Pascal Hachem from Lebanon, Bosco Sodi from Mexico, and many others. Each international artist’s engagement with AlUla involves extended periods of site research, community interaction, and cultural exchange that build relationships beyond the artworks themselves. The acquisition of works from the inaugural 2020 edition by the Royal Commission for its permanent collection demonstrates a commitment to maintaining these cultural connections over time.
The Wadi AlFann program’s selection of international artists including James Turrell, Agnes Denes, and Michael Heizer for permanent installations alongside Saudi artists Ahmed Mater and Manal AlDowayan creates a permanent diplomatic statement about cultural exchange. The presence of internationally recognized American land artists alongside leading Saudi contemporary artists in a shared landscape creates a visual and experiential argument for cultural synthesis that operates at the level of artistic experience rather than political rhetoric.
The expert panel for Wadi AlFann, chaired by Iwona Blazwick (former head of London’s Whitechapel Gallery), and the James Turrell exhibition curated by Michael Govan (CEO of LACMA), embed international curatorial authority within Saudi cultural programming. These relationships create networks of influence within the international art world that function as channels for cultural diplomacy.
Noor Riyadh: Diplomacy Through Spectacle
Noor Riyadh’s positioning as the world’s largest light art festival, with 9.6 million cumulative visitors and 16 Guinness World Records, generates international attention that serves diplomatic purposes. The festival’s engagement of artists from 24 countries in its 2025 edition, including Michelangelo Pistoletto from Italy, Monira Al Qadiri from Kuwait, Alexander Calder’s estate, and Robert Indiana’s estate, creates a roster of international cultural associations that positions Riyadh as a cosmopolitan cultural capital.
The tribute to Safeya Binzagr (1940-2024) at Noor Riyadh 2025, honoring the icon of Saudi modernism and first Saudi female artist to host a solo exhibition in 1968, communicates a diplomatic message about Saudi Arabia’s recognition of women’s cultural contributions. This is cultural diplomacy at its most effective: an authentic act of artistic homage that simultaneously addresses international concerns about gender equality through cultural rather than political language.
The festival’s drone shows, including United Visual Artists’ “Aether” with 1,500 drones, and installations like Chris Levine’s “Higher Power” laser projecting “Salaam” in Morse code from the Faisaliah Tower, combine technological spectacle with cultural messaging in ways that circulate virally through international media and social platforms. Each Guinness World Record generates news coverage that reaches audiences far beyond the art world, extending Saudi cultural diplomacy’s reach into popular culture.
Edge of Arabia and Grassroots Diplomacy
The history of Saudi cultural diplomacy through art includes grassroots initiatives that preceded government programs. Edge of Arabia, co-founded by Abdulnasser Gharem and others in 2003 in the southwestern Saudi mountains, pioneered the international promotion of Saudi contemporary art through exhibitions and educational programs. Gharem’s donation of proceeds from his record-breaking “Message/Messenger” auction sale to Edge of Arabia for art education demonstrates how artist-driven cultural diplomacy operated before the establishment of institutional programs.
Edge of Arabia’s exhibitions in London, Venice, and other international venues introduced global audiences to Saudi contemporary art at a time when the Kingdom had no formal cultural diplomacy infrastructure for the visual arts. The organization’s influence can be traced through the subsequent careers of artists it supported and the international networks it established, many of which have been absorbed into or complement the institutional programs that now lead Saudi cultural diplomacy.
Institutional Cultural Exchange
The Misk Art Institute’s international residency partnerships represent another dimension of cultural diplomacy, operating at the level of individual artist exchange rather than major institutional events. By sending Saudi artists to international institutions and hosting international artists in Riyadh, the institute creates person-to-person cultural connections that build diplomatic goodwill at a granular level. The institute’s focus on emerging and mid-career artists means that these exchanges influence the formative stages of artistic careers, creating lifelong connections between Saudi and international creative communities.
SAMoCA’s exhibition “The Writings of Today Are a Promise for Tomorrow,” described as the first exhibition introducing contemporary Chinese-origin artists to Saudi Arabia, drawing parallels between Arab and Chinese traditions through calligraphy and the Garden, represents institutional cultural diplomacy with specific geopolitical significance. The Saudi-Chinese cultural connection, established through an exhibition that finds common ground in shared artistic traditions, complements broader diplomatic and economic relationships between the two nations.
Challenges and Critiques
Saudi Arabia’s cultural diplomacy through art operates within a context of international scrutiny regarding human rights, press freedom, and social policies. Critics have characterized the Kingdom’s cultural investment as “artwashing,” using cultural prestige to deflect attention from political concerns. This critique is not unique to Saudi Arabia; similar arguments have been made about cultural diplomacy by China, Russia, the UAE, and Western nations.
The response from Saudi cultural institutions has been to prioritize artistic autonomy within their programs. The selection of Manal AlDowayan, whose work addresses gender and female identity in Saudi Arabia, for the Venice Biennale, and the curatorial freedom afforded to international directors at the Diriyah Biennale, suggest a cultural diplomacy approach that relies on the authenticity and quality of artistic production rather than on controlled messaging. Whether this approach is sufficient to address critics’ concerns is a matter of ongoing debate within the international art community.
The Diplomatic Return on Investment
The diplomatic returns on Saudi Arabia’s cultural investment are substantial and measurable. International media coverage of Saudi cultural events has transformed the narrative around the Kingdom in arts and culture publications from skepticism to engaged analysis. Institutional partnerships with the Louvre, the Vatican, the V&A, and the Guggenheim create relationship infrastructure that supports broader diplomatic objectives. The presence of Saudi art at Venice, in travelling exhibitions, and in the permanent collections of major international museums creates a cultural representation that complements and softens formal diplomatic communication.
For a nation undergoing rapid social and economic transformation, cultural diplomacy provides a language of change that is more nuanced and more persuasive than political rhetoric. The art itself, in its complexity and its willingness to engage with difficult themes, communicates a Saudi Arabia that is more dynamic, more diverse, and more open to international exchange than political commentary alone can convey. This is the fundamental value of cultural diplomacy through art: it creates experiences that reshape perceptions in ways that no other form of communication can achieve.
Future Diplomatic Frontiers
The next phase of Saudi cultural diplomacy through art will likely involve deeper institutional integration with international cultural networks. The expansion of Saudi participation in recurring international exhibitions, the development of long-term institutional partnerships with museums and universities worldwide, and the increasing presence of Saudi curators and cultural administrators in international professional organizations will embed Saudi cultural perspectives within the global cultural infrastructure.
The growing number of Saudi artists in the permanent collections of major international museums creates a durable form of cultural representation that persists beyond individual exhibitions or diplomatic initiatives. When Saudi art is permanently displayed in the Guggenheim, the British Museum, the Centre Pompidou, and LACMA, it becomes part of the global art historical narrative — a form of cultural diplomacy that operates continuously, independently of political events or diplomatic initiatives, reaching millions of museum visitors annually and shaping international perceptions of Saudi cultural production for generations to come.
Sotheby’s establishment of commercial auctions in Saudi Arabia represents cultural diplomacy operating through commercial channels. The combined auction revenues exceeding USD 36 million, including the Binzagr USD 2.1 million record, demonstrate that Saudi Arabia’s cultural credentials are being validated by the international art market. This commercial validation complements institutional cultural diplomacy through biennales and international partnerships.