Diriyah Biennale Foundation

The Diriyah Biennale Foundation organises two recurring biennales in Saudi Arabia: the Islamic Arts Biennale and the Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale. Set up in 2020 under the Ministry of Culture, it is chaired by Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud. Its remit also covers learning programmes that run all year and the development of JAX, a creative district in Diriyah.

JAX District is an industrial district of about 120,000 square metres; the foundation credits its design to Bricklab. It looks over Wadi Hanifa and lies near At-Turaif, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, north-west of Riyadh. The contemporary biennale has been staged there three times. The first edition ran from 11 December 2021 to 11 March 2022. After Rain, directed by Ute Meta Bauer, followed from 20 February to 24 May 2024. The third, In Interludes and Transitions, ran from 30 January to 2 May 2026 under Nora Razian and Sabih Ahmed.

The Islamic Arts Biennale is held in Jeddah, in the Western Hajj Terminal that Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed in 1981. The foundation describes it as the world's first biennial given over to the Islamic arts. Its opening edition ran from 23 January to 23 May 2023. And All That Is In Between followed from 25 January to 25 May 2025, with Julian Raby, Amin Jaffer and Abdul Rahman Azzam as artistic directors. Between editions, the foundation runs talks, masterclasses in a print workshop and workshops for children.