21,39 Riyadh Art

Saudi Arabia's national public art programme, which has installed dozens of large-scale artworks across Riyadh, Jeddah, and other cities. In Riyadh, installations are concentrated in the al-Olaya district — the business and commercial core between Kingdom Centre and Al Faisaliah Tower — and on the metro network. Works by local and international artists are sited in public squares, on building facades, and in landscaped areas.

The scale and quality of the installations vary, but several are genuinely impressive. A walking map of the al-Olaya installations is available from the Saudi Tourism Authority. The programme has grown rapidly since its founding in 2017 and continues to expand, so new works appear regularly.

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The name "21,39" refers to the geographic coordinates of Jeddah, where the programme began — but it has since expanded across Saudi Arabia as a public art initiative placing large-scale installations in urban spaces. In Riyadh, works have been installed throughout the al-Olaya district, on the facades of towers, in public squares, and along the metro line. The effect is to turn the city into a gallery without walls, navigable on foot or by metro.

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