Another festival in the region has wrapped up after a successful inaugural run - this time we’re looking at the Shift22 street fest in Riyadh brought to you by Saudi Arabia’s ministry of Culture.
The free-to-attend event totally open to the public was organized at Irqah hospital in Riyadh with the debut edition running from October 13 to October 30. It was all about celebrating emerging forms of art in the Kingdom, including graffiti which was once a suppressed medium and now represents youth culture all around the world.
SHIFT22 presented a range of commissioned and existing art, curated by New York based artistic agency Creative Philosophy, with a headline focus on patterns and inspiration taken from the Irqah Hospital’s architecture where the event was located. More than 30 Saudi Arabian and international artists took part in this year’s festival.
“Shift22 is part of the Commission’s efforts to celebrate and encourage local and international visual artists by providing platforms for creative exchange and dialogue,” said Dina Amin, CEO of the Visual Arts Commission. “This festival is an example of the many exciting visual arts opportunities that are a result of the growing local art scene.”
Some of the artists participating include Huda Beydoun, Rexchouk, Zeinab Al-Mahoozi, and Refik Anadol, who worked together at Irqah Hospital to transform the site into a night museum with dynamic light displays, projections, sound installations, murals, as well as the use of trash collected from the area and repurposed into works of art. Festival goers also has the chance to experience street culture mainstays like breakdancing, skateboarding, street food, fashion, music and more.
Shift22 has immediately established itself as a welcome addition to the Middle East art festival calendar and we’re already looking forward to the second edition next October.
