The Emerging New Media Artists Programme enters its third year at Diriyah Art Futures in Riyadh. This one-year, fully supported programme offers access to world-class facilities and mentors in the MENA region’s first New Media and Digital Arts centre.
Diriyah Art Futures (DAF), the MENA region’s first New Media Arts centre, has announced a call for applications for the third cycle of its Emerging New Media Artists programme, set to launch in October 2026.
Developed in partnership with Le Fresnoy – Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France and supported by the Saudi Museums Commission, one of the 11 sector-specific commissions of the Saudi Ministry of Culture, the one-year programme offers access to cutting-edge professional equipment and facilities, a production budget and personal mentorship from prominent international digital and new media artists.
Since its launch in November 2024, the programme has supported emerging artists from across the region and internationally, providing a platform for the next generation of new media practitioners to develop ambitious new works. The programme has featured strong representation from Saudi Arabia and the MENA region, reflecting DAF’s commitment to amplifying regional voices in global conversations around art, science, and technology.
Participants will work under the mentorship of leading artists and scholars to produce new artworks using DAF’s world-class facilities, including advanced audio-visual techniques, immersive reality, coding, sensing, machine learning and spatial audio-visual environments.
Diriyah Art Futures
The programme begins with three months of thematic and conceptual explorations of cutting-edge topics, presented by artists and theorists through seminars, lectures, screenings and workshops. Following this, participants will work under the mentorship of leading artists and scholars to produce new artworks using DAF’s world-class facilities, including advanced audio-visual techniques, immersive reality, coding, sensing, machine learning and spatial audio-visual environments. The final works will be exhibited at DAF as a curated and juried outcome of the programme.
DAF is now taking applications for the 2026 / 2027 Emerging New Media Artists programme. The application deadline is 31 May 2026. Applicants should be 35 years or younger, at graduate or postgraduate completion stage and have experience in developing and creating New Media and Digital Art. Candidates can find more information, selection criteria and apply to the programme here.
Important Dates:
- Application Deadline: May 31, 2026
- The term will begin: October 2026
- Thematic Exploration, Pre-Production & Testing: October – December 2026
- Track, Tools, Mentorship & Validation Jury: November 2026 – January 2027
- Production, Mentorship, Scenography & Curation: February – August 2027
- Exhibition & Jury: September – October 2027
Find out more about DAF and on social media: X @DAFmoc or Instagram @DAFmoc.
Apply Here → https://engage.moc.gov.sa
About Diriyah Art Futures
Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) is an arts, research and education centre driven by a belief in the power of interdisciplinary creative practice at the intersection of art, science, and technology. Developed by the Ministry of Culture of Saudi Arabia, DAF is the region’s first institution dedicated to New Media and Digital Arts. It is a space for collaboration, speculation and production by creative practitioners from across the globe, focused on research, documentation and producing new work.
