Masaha Residency: Cycle 10

A three-month visual arts residency in the heart of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, exploring the uncertain boundaries between truth, perception, and memory.

About Misk Art Residencies 

Misk Art Residencies aims to support artistic development and practice by promoting the possibilities of meaningful exchange between the local community and the global cultural landscape. The Masaha Residency is designed to cultivate the art sector by facilitating discourse, research, and experimentation around themes that concern the local community.

Theme: At the Edge of Knowing 

How do we know what we know, and who decides what is remembered, believed, or dismissed?

This cycle theme “At the Edge of Knowing” invites artists to explore how knowledge is shaped, questioned, and remembered. In a time of blurred lines between truth and belief, artists are encouraged to investigate what lies beneath the surface, what is misread, silenced, or in tension. 

Artists can draw from personal memory, collective archives, imagined futures, or site-based questions to reflect on how meaning is formed and how art can hold complexity. This theme supports process-based inquiry, where boundaries, whether cultural, emotional, ecological, or digital, become spaces for experimentation, and the invisible becomes material for thought.

Reflective Questions:

1. Where do you notice gaps, silences, or contradictions in the stories around you—and how do you respond to them creatively?
2. How do perception, belief, and memory influence the way you interpret or represent “truth” in your work?

Program Components:

1. Weekly mentorship sessions
2. Masterclasses
3. Development of project and budget proposals
4. Trips to cultural/historical sites in Riyadh
5. Public engagement through open studios and resident-led educational programing
6. Networking sessions with established artists and art practitioners
7. Critique sessions with external and internal collaborators.
8. Final group showcase, funded by Misk Art Institute

Who’s it for?

Full-time visual artists from all artistic disciplines who meet one or more of the following:

1. 3+ years of fine arts experience
2. 3+ years of exhibiting history
3. Actively practicing and engaging in the arts
4. Previous art residency experience is preferred 

Applicants must also be fully committed to prioritizing this three-month program, with no exceptions.

What we provide

1. Round-trip flight to Riyadh
2. Visas for Saudi Arabia 
3. Accommodation (For those based outside of Riyadh)
4. Per diem  
5. Production budget

Selected artists will receive:

1. Private studio space and dedicated time to focus on researching a theme-specific project
2. External and internal experts to advise, provide feedback, and offer constructive critique on research and project development
3. Long-lasting contacts within the Saudi and international arts network
4. Exposure to and from important members of the art community (such as artists, press, curators, etc.)
5. Professional development as an artist
6. Final group showcase during Misk Art Week 2025, one of the region’s leading art events

Artwork credit: Thomas Egoumenides, Extracting the Salt from Our Tears (2024)