Noor Riyadh’s New York Event: Positioning Saudi Creativity on a Global Stage

Noor Riyadh’s New York Event

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Noor Riyadh, the world’s largest light art festival, lit up NYC during Armory Week with the global reveal of its fifth edition.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 10, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The world’s largest light art festival, Noor Riyadh, brought its vision to New York City last month during Amory Week, where artists, curators, and cultural leaders gathered for the international announcement of the festival’s fifth edition. The event attracted leading figures from New York’s cultural sector— including designer and actor Waris Ahluwalia; Director and Chief Curator of Public Art Fund Nicholas Baume; visual artist Hank Willis Thomas; and TV personality and digital creator Tina Leung, underscoring Noor Riyadh’s growing international profile ahead of its return to the Saudi capital on November 20, 2025.

The event featured an artwork installation by Noor Riyadh alum, Brooklyn-based, Chilean artist Ivan Navarro, and was also attended by major Saudi artist alumni, including Dana Awartani, previously shortlisted for New York’s Highline plinth, and Sultan bin Fahad who was celebrating the recent launch of his solo exhibition at Leila Heller Gallery, New York.

The 2025 curatorial theme “In the Blink of an Eye,” and curators, led by internationally renowned Mami Kataoka (Director, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo) and supported by Li Zhenhua (curator and founder of Beijing Art Lab), and Riyadh-based curator, Sara Almutlaq were announced at the event, and the vision for the festival was revealed, with plans to animate Riyadh at scale and capture the imagination of millions.

From the historic center to new metro stations, Noor Riyadh will bring kinetic works, immersive environments, and large-scale interventions across the city. Underpinned by the curatorial direction of this year's theme, centered on Riyadh’s pace and rapid transformation, the festival will present light as both medium and narrative.

Noor Riyadh 2025 will span six locations across the city including Qasr Al-Hokm District, King Abdulaziz Historical Center, stc Metro Station, KAFD Metro Station, Public Investment Fund (PIF) Tower, and JAX District. The selection connects Riyadh’s heritage sites with modern landmarks, with the recently launched metro system, reflecting the city’s rapid transformation.

Noor Riyadh Director, Nouf Almoneef spoke of the legacy and impact of Riyadh’s flagship arts festival. Since 2021, Noor Riyadh has presented more than 450 artworks by nearly 400 international and Saudi artists including Dan Flavin, James Turrell, Yayoi Kusama, earned 16 Guinness World Records and welcomed nine million visitors.

Her speech concluded with an invitation for all to come to Riyadh to see the festival with their own eyes and enjoy the city in all its beauty, under the spectacular light of Noor Riyadh.

Noor Riyadh returns November 20 to December 6, 2025.

For more info:
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Simona Mikhael
Edelman
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