Masaha Residency: Cycle 5

A three-month visual arts residency in the heart of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, focusing on the role of cultural tradition in the arts.

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.

This year, the Masaha Residency will focus on bringing together emerging artists and Arabic writers to deliberate the topic of tradition. Tradition is an element that defines a society; it is coveted and practiced. It reflects cultural identity, collective values, and historical aesthetics. It is uniquely specific to a place yet simultaneously connected with surrounding geographies. And so, with so much change in the air, how do we preserve, conserve, and deploy it in our current moment?

In collaboration with guest curator Lulwah Al Homoud and three expert mentors, the fifth cycle of Misk Art Institute’s biannual Masaha Residency invites ten emerging visual artists and two Saudi Arabic writers to interrogate the means and methods of implementing their cultural traditions within the arts.

With a mix of local and international artists and experts, this residency asks if the discourse surrounding the history of traditional art requires interrogation; whether art can be utilized to safeguard cultural tradition; what artistic inspiration occurs through different cultural exchanges; and how to bridge the outdated narrative gap between tradition and innovation.

Who’s It For?

The Masaha Residency is open to 

1. Ten full-time emerging Saudi and international visual artists who meet one or more of the following criteria:
   
   
2. Two full-time Saudi Arabic art writers, preferably with professional writing experience—not creative writers.

How it works

The 3-month Masaha Residency is specifically designed to support 10 artists and 2 Arabic writers-in-residence to conceive and create pivotal art projects. The Residency is designed to allow artists to pursue new projects and ideas with the aid of cutting-edge supplementary programing to further their artistic development. The Masaha Residency supports regional, national, and international artists in the creation of new art, engaging with local communities towards global art practices and experiences.