Riyadh Art has opened submissions for Tuwaiq Sculpture 2026, the seventh edition of its acclaimed international sculpture symposium. Running in January and February 2026, the event will transform Riyadh into a live canvas for artists, designers, and public art enthusiasts alike.
The open call, running from August 27 to October 1, 2025, seeks proposals from sculptors worldwide who want to participate in a live, on-site creation experience. Twenty-five artists will be selected to produce original works that will be permanently installed across the city, further expanding Riyadh’s growing public art collection.
Set in Riyadh’s Tahlia district, whose name nods to its desalination heritage, Tuwaiq Sculpture 2026 unfolds under the theme Traces of What Will Be. This year, the symposium explores transformation as both a physical process and a metaphor for urban renewal. Tahlia’s history as the site of Riyadh’s first desalination plant — a pioneering infrastructure that turned scarcity into sustenance — makes it the perfect canvas for artists to reflect on innovation and resilience.
This edition introduces two new sculpting categories, Granite + Stainless Steel Integration and Reclaimed Metal, reflecting Riyadh Art’s commitment to innovation and sustainability. Selected artists will receive an honorarium, along with full travel and accommodation support, making it easier than ever to bring global talent to the Saudi capital.
Tuwaiq Sculpture 2026 also welcomes an international curatorial team to guide artistic direction. This includes Sarah Staton from the U.K., Rut Blees Luxemburg from Germany, and Saudi artist Lulwah Al Homoud, who together bring a mix of global insight and local perspective to the project.
Since its inception, Tuwaiq Sculpture has featured more than 150 artists, including 35 works permanently displayed at the King Abdulaziz Historical Center, helping shape Riyadh as a hub for cultural innovation and public art.
From Saudi Arabia’s early desalination experiments in 1907 to its status today as the world’s largest producer of desalinated water, the Kingdom’s journey is a story of ingenuity and adaptability. The symposium invites artists to respond to this legacy using local stone and reclaimed metal, materials that carry memory and potential. Over the course of the event, Tahlia will transform into a dynamic space of creation, dialogue, and global exchange, with finished works displayed at the very site where they were conceived.
