Saudi contemporary art lands at Art Basel

Welcome to AL-MONITOR Riyadh.

The week ahead is a busy one, with the return of the flagship Art Basel fair in Basel, Switzerland, where Saudi artists Muhannad Shono and Zahrah Alghamdi will present large-scale installations in Unlimited, the fair’s section for monumental artworks. Elsewhere, Palestinian Saudi artist Ayman Yossri Daydban is presenting a large-scale installation exploring themes of home and belonging with ATHR Gallery in the fair’s new Premier section. In Saudi Arabia, we highlight a major discovery by the Saudi Heritage Commission documenting more than 1,700 artifacts along the historic pilgrimage route to Mecca, as well as the opening of B+F, the popular upscale Kuwaiti burger restaurant’s first branch in Riyadh. 

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Happy reading,

Rebecca

P.S. Have feedback or tips on Riyadh's culture scene? Send them my way at contactus@al-monitor.com.

1. Leading the week: Saudi artwork at Art Basel

Muhannad Shono. “Towers of Infinite Horizons.” 2026. (Photo courtesy of the artist and ATHR)

Saudi Arabia has a significant presence at Art Basel's flagship fair in Basel, Switzerland, this June. Leading contemporary Saudi art gallery ATHR will make its debut in the fair’s Unlimited section, Art Basel’s 16,000-square-meter sector dedicated to large-scale, monumental and often immersive artworks that exceed the spatial constraints of the gallery booths.

“ATHR’s participation at Art Basel 2026 marks a defining chapter in the gallery’s journey and in our ongoing mission to support and amplify the voices shaping contemporary art from Saudi Arabia,” Mohammed Hafiz, ATHR Gallery co-founder, told Al-Monitor. “Our debut in Unlimited with Muhannad Shono’s 17-meter installation is a significant milestone for the gallery, presented alongside Zahrah Alghamdi’s immersive installation and Ayman Yossri Daydban’s focused Premiere presentation.”

“Both Shono and Alghamdi have represented Saudi Arabia at the Venice Biennale and, together with Daydban’s powerful exploration of identity and belonging, these works reflect the ambition, complexity and global relevance of the artistic practices emerging from Saudi Arabia today,” he added.

“Streams Move Oceans,” Alghamdi’s 15-meter-wide suspended textile installation, transforms the wall on which it is displayed into a site for personal and collective introspection. “In Basel, I return to the phrase that has accompanied my artistic journey: ‘Here I am,’” she told Al-Monitor. “I stand carrying the memory of place and the spirit of the land, affirming that art has the power to transform the details most deeply connected to our environment and culture into a universal language — one that can be understood and felt by everyone.”

Nearby is Shono’s “Towers of Infinite Horizons,” a 17-meter-wide sculptural intervention constructed from reclaimed foundry sand that reimagines a tower as a fallen, listening structure. “With ‘Towers of Infinite Horizons’, I wanted to imagine what becomes possible when monuments of authority are released from their function,” Shono told Al-Monitor. “Historically, towers have existed to project certainty and reinforce a singular narrative - demanding that we look upward. But when they collapse into the horizon, they surrender that authority and become spaces of encounter instead.”

Date: June 18-21

Location: Art Basel, Messeplatz, Basel, Switzerland

Find more information here. 

2. Word on the street: B+F

A plate of juicy ribs at the new B+F in Riyadh’s upscale Laysen Valley. (Photo courtesy of B+F)

Popular Kuwaiti upscale-casual restaurant B+F (which stands for Burgers and Fries), known for its delicious open-fire charcoal grilling and innovative burger creations, is now open in Riyadh. One of the Saudi capital’s most elegant new eateries, B+F has landed in its new foodie destination, Laysen Valley, known for its luxury design infused with traditional Najdi references and charm. The restaurant offers a cozy, laid-back atmosphere and specializes in open-flame cooking, delivering a memorable fire-grill experience. Be sure to indulge in B+F’s mix of pan-American dishes including smoked meats, burgers, ribs, grilled steaks and fire-charred specialties.

Location: Laysen Valley, Riyadh

Find more information here. 

3. Riyadh diary

Ayman Yossir Daydban. “The Nest from the Treehouse” series. 2026. Translucent acrylic panels. (Photo courtesy of the artist and ATHR)

• Saudi Palestinian artist Ayman Yossri Daydan shows with ATHR at Art Basel’s Premiere sector

In Art Basel’s Premiere section, which was introduced in 2025 to spotlight pioneering works, ATHR joins 21 new galleries from around the world and presents “The Nest” by Saudi Palestinian artist Ayman Yossri Daydban from his “Treehouse” series. Born in Palestine in 1966, Daydban grew up in Jeddah and has become one the kingdom’s most seminal artists. His contemporary artworks, created in a variety of media, including painting, photography, printmaking, performance, film and multimedia installation, disrupt traditional aesthetic frameworks and have helped reshape contemporary art in the kingdom.

Continuing his exploration of identity, home and belonging, “The Nest,” with its entangled structure inspired by the concept of shelter, rejects fixed notions of place and origins. Instead, it reflects on how human beings become entangled within their own ideas of shelter and belonging, whether temporary or permanent. 

“I think about shelter not as a fixed place, but as something temporary, open and constantly changing,” the artist told Al-Monitor. “The work responds to light, space and the movement of people around it, becoming different with each encounter. I’m happy to see it leave the studio and enter a shared space where new connections and experiences can emerge.”

Date: June 18-21
Location: Art Basel, Messeplatz, Basel, Switzerland
Find more information here.

• Archaeologists discover artifacts along historic pilgrimage route to Mecca

Archaeologists in Saudi Arabia have uncovered over 1,700 artifacts, including pottery kilns, glass, stone pieces, shells, crafted objects and tombstones at the ancient Miqat Al-Juhfah pilgrimage site. The discovery was made by the Saudi Heritage Commission, one of 11 sector-specific commissions under the Ministry of Culture, in cooperation with the University of Exeter, and marks the first archaeological survey at the site.

Highlighting the site’s significance as a key waypoint on the Egyptian hajj route serving pilgrims on their journey to Mecca, the excavation revealed a variety of artifacts used in the daily lives of pilgrims, including beads, metal objects and shells. Among the most significant finds were six pottery kilns and a water channel believed to have served pilgrims and travelers, as well as 13 tombstones, some dating back to the Umayyad and Abbasid periods.

Find more information here. 

• ‘Between Clay and Sculpture’

This exhibition highlights ceramic and stone sculptures by more than 20 artists from Saudi Arabia, exploring how memory can take a lasting shape. On view are works by Maha Malluh, known for her mixed-media installations that often incorporate found objects representing Saudi culture; pioneering Saudi ceramic artist and sculptor Awatif Al-Keneibit; Ali Al-Tokhais, a prominent Saudi sculptor from Al-Dawadmi known for working with local stone and for carving the foundation stone of Diriyah Gate; Wafa Al-Keneibet, known for large-scale, intricate sculptures that bridge Islamic calligraphy and Saudi heritage with contemporary forms; and Talal Al-Tokhais, a prominent Saudi sculptor who works predominantly with stone.

Date: until July 10

Location: Naila Gallery, Riyadh

Find more information here.

4. Book of the week: ‘Saudi Art’

This book, published with the Saudi Visual Arts Commission in 2025, blends academic scholarship with personal recollections by artists and authors to map the landscape of the rising Saudi art scene. It offers a comprehensive exploration of Saudi Arabia’s cultural development from the 1950s to the present, tracing the evolution of its art scene over time.

Key contributors and featured figures include Saudi researcher and writer Abeer Alsaadi; Cecilia Ruggeri, a curator at the Misk Art Institute; Saudi photographer and artist Bader AlBalawi; Haytham Nawar, Egyptian artist, designer and director of Diriyah Art Futures; and pioneering Saudi artist and writer Abdulrahman Alsoliman.

5. View from Riyadh

A view of the first archaeological survey at the Miqat Al-Juhfah site located on the historic pilgrimage route to Mecca that uncovered over 1,700 artifacts in early June. (Photo courtesy of the Saudi Heritage Commission)

6. By the numbers

• In June, the Saudi Heritage Commission announced the documentation of 1,774 archaeological artifacts in Al-Mahd governorate, in the Madinah region. 
• The survey recorded 156 new archaeological sites, including 461 Islamic inscriptions, 34 Thamudic inscriptions, 1,259 rock art panels, 11 stone structures, three historical palaces, two caravan routes and four wells.