This year’s festival is curated under the theme “In the Blink of an Eye,” referencing the rapid transformation shaping Riyadh. Large-scale artworks are grouped across six locations, positioned alongside both heritage buildings and the sleek, modern lines of Riyadh’s award-winning metro system and contemporary architecture.
Curated by Mami Kataoka (Curatorial Advisory Lead; Director, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo), Riyadh-based curator Sara Almutlaq, and Li Zhenhua (curator and founder of Beijing Art Lab), the festival presents 60 artworks by 59 artists from 24 countries, with more than 35 new commissions by leading Saudi and international artists.
“Each year, Noor Riyadh grows in ambition and impact,” says Nouf Almoneef, Festival Director of Noor Riyadh. “I am proud that we continue to champion artists, strengthen the creative economy, and build connections between Saudi talent and the international arts community. Together, we are shaping Riyadh into a global capital for culture today and for generations to come.”
Highlight artworks on view include
László Zsolt Bordos (Hungary), Astrum, 2025 – powerful beams atop Al Faisaliah Tower become a moving planetary compass, pointing to celestial bodies in real time. With lasers beaming up to 7km, the work turns the city skyline into an astronomical stage, inviting viewers to reconnect with the cosmos above metropolitan Riyadh.
Vali Chincișan (Romania), The Vision Grid, 2025 – the façade of KAFD Metro Station is transformed into a shifting lattice of light and sound. The oscillating patterns fracture into color, synchronized to an electronic score, featuring a precise meditation on perception in flux, where architecture seems to inhale data and geometry becomes music.
Christophe Berthonneau (France), Synthesis, 2025 – architecture, drone choreography, and mapping are merged into a single kinetic performance. In this collaboration with László Zsolt Bordos, the building appears to levitate, its façade a recombinant geometry while drones extend the light ballet skyward in a dialogue between art and engineering.
fuse* (Italy), Luna Somnium, 2025 – Italian art and architecture collective transforms detailed lunar data into a multisensory cosmic experience within a towering square metal structure. Aligned with orbital rhythms, ethereal visuals oscillate between abstraction and cosmology, turning scientific observation into a meditative dream of celestial yearning.
James Clar (Philippines & USA), When the Sky Reaches the Ground – (a moment frozen), 2025 – a massive sculptural bolt of frozen lightning, constructed from neon and grid scaffolding. His art captures a fleeting moment of immense speed and intense energy, symbolizing both technological mastery and the nuanced ways communication systems shape our perception of reality.
Fatma Abdulhadi (Saudi Arabia), Keep your eyes on the light: Into Another Garden, 2025 – suspended in ghost fabrics, an illusory shadow garden invites the viewer to flow into the room of the heart, between healing and growth. It is a space for pause and repose, where one is invited to embody their inner state of being and reflect on the subtleties of shadow, of self, and of time.
Ahmad Angawi (Saudi Arabia), Algorithms of Light: The Falcon, 2025 – angawi explores the intersection of heritage, motion, and transformation, drawing inspiration from Najdi Sadu patterns and the Saudi falcon, embodying sublime rhythm and geometry. Its calligraphic design elongates to inhabit space without overt declaration, expressing a quiet statement of permanence.
Alex Schweder (USA), Clockwise Invitations, 2025 – an expansive, luminous, inflatable environment is brought to life by its visitors. Chambers expand, passages shift, and light transforms as audiences gather, turning orientation into a shared choreography between bodies and air.
Spanning the city from north to south, the festival locations include: Riyadh Art space at JAX District, a former industrial area that is now home to artist studios, galleries, and contemporary arts events; KAFD Metro Station, designed by Zaha Hadid architects; stc Metro Station, designed by Gerber Architekten; Al Faisaliah Tower, designed by British design practice Foster & Partners; and the heritage areas Qasr Al Hokm District and King Abdulaziz Historical Center, both in the historic heart of Riyadh.
Since 2021, Noor Riyadh has attracted more than 9.6 million visitors and spectators, presenting more than 550 artworks by 500 artists from around the world. Alongside its citywide installations, the festival offers a vibrant public program of community activities, workshops, and panels that bring people together through art. The festival continues to embody Riyadh Art’s mission to enrich daily life through creativity, to develop the creative economy, and to inspire dialogue across communities.
Noor Riyadh 2025: “In the Blink of an Eye”
20 November – 6 December 2025
Curated by Mami Kataoka, Sara Almutlaq, and Li Zhenhua.
Visitor information:
Opening hours: 18:00 PM – 12:00 AM
About Noor Riyadh
Noor Riyadh, launched in March 2021, is a citywide annual festival of light and art. It is the largest light art festival in the world. Noor Riyadh is a 17-day festival that includes a public program of community activities featuring educational workshops, talks, and performances.
Noor Riyadh combines the highest quality light artworks from leading international and Saudi artists across the largest city footprint of any light art festival worldwide. Staged under Riyadh Art, the festival aims to nurture local talent and inspire youth to drive Saudi Arabia’s creative economy.
Noor Riyadh is presented by Riyadh Art and the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.
About Riyadh Art
Riyadh Art is one of Riyadh’s four original mega projects under Vision 2030 and is led by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City. Launched in 2019, it was developed to catalyze the capital’s transformation, enrich lives, and encourage creative expression and cross-cultural dialogue through art.
Art and culture are essential to the identity of a city, and the Riyadh Art initiative was established to reflect the openness and accessibility of the capital’s growing creative landscape, where the exchange of ideas through artistic practice contributes to a deeper and more inclusive cultural identity.
Riyadh Art aims to have a positive impact on people, bringing everyday moments of joy to residents and visitors alike, while instilling a greater sense of civic pride and creating a more beautiful city for everyone to enjoy. It also supports the growth of the creative economy and contributes to attracting investment and talent to Riyadh.
For more information, visit https://riyadhart.sa/en/noor-riyadh/
