Tuwaiq Sculpture 2027 Open Call

About this call

Tuwaiq Sculpture is Riyadh Art's annual international sculpture symposium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The eighth edition brings together 20 local and international sculptors who make new works on site, in the open, at a dedicated location on Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Street (Tahlia Street), Riyadh, during January and February 2027; the site is open to the public and an exhibition follows at the same site. The curatorial theme, Where Roots Run Deep, invites site-responsive approaches to land, belonging, identity, memory, transformation and imprint. Available materials are granite (royal rose, royal gold, green), metal, wind breeze blocks, cement or cast stone, and mosaic. Each selected artist has a dedicated assistant, a shared workshop and tools, and receives an artist fee of SAR 37,500 (US$10,000), an economy-class flight, hotel accommodation, daily meals, ground transport, medical insurance and public liability insurance. The completed sculptures join Riyadh Art's collection of public artworks. Curators: Dr. Soha AlZaid, Aldo Rinaldi and Auronda Scalera.

Who can apply

• Open to applicants of any nationality
• Medium: Sculpture
• Entry fee: See official site
• Applicants need at least three years of experience sculpting and exhibiting work, permanently or temporarily, in outdoor spaces and galleries, and must provide three examples of completed sculptures. Artists who took part in any previous edition of Tuwaiq Sculpture are not eligible; unsuccessful applicants from previous years may apply. Apply individually or as a duo of two members (a duo shares one room and splits the artist fee equally). The online form asks for a third-person biography of at most 250 words, an exhibition history, a portfolio (PDF, .doc or .docx), and for each of the three completed sculptures its title, medium, year, dimensions and 2 to 5 photographs. Submit up to three proposals for new, original artworks responding to Where Roots Run Deep, each with a description of at most 500 words and up to 10 images; images may be photographs of a model or 3D designs, sketches are not accepted. Proposals must be feasible with the listed materials (granite: at most four blocks, each between 100 x 100 x 100 cm and 300 x 200 x 100 cm, excluding the base). Plinths are strongly discouraged. Selected artists bring a maquette of at least 40 x 40 x 40 cm in the proposed materials, which Riyadh Art owns; they work on site for 23 working days, eight hours a day, Monday to Saturday, take part in public engagement activities including talks, workshops and press-related events, mentor apprentices, may not bring or hire their own assistants, and may not replicate the work elsewhere. Pneumatic tools are not provided; artists ship any personal tools themselves. The artist fee is paid subject to completion of the artwork. Riyadh Art may relocate completed sculptures anywhere within the Kingdom. International artists must apply for a Saudi visa, with guidance from the delivery provider. All participants will be contacted in November 2026. The guidelines do not state an application fee.