Art Fairs Postponed, Institutions Adapt, and Saudi Arabia Plans Cultural Hub Amid COVID-19 Disruptions
The Royal Commission for Al-Ula in Saudi Arabia is set to develop the Al-Ula area into a cultural hub, inspired by the Desert X festival, which showcased artists such as Manal AlDowayan and eL Seed. Plans involve the establishment of new outdoor museums and galleries. Due to COVID-19, multiple art events faced delays: Art Basel and Liste postponed their fairs originally scheduled for June, Manifesta 13’s Marseille edition was pushed back after France's border closure on March 16, and the Yerevan Biennial was rescheduled to run from April 15 to June 13, 2021, under the direction of Lorenzo Fusi. Meanwhile, the KW Institute for Contemporary Art appointed four new curators, and MOCA made staff layoffs. U.S. art students sought refunds for interrupted education, and gallerist Paul Kasmin died in New York.
Key facts
- Saudi Arabia plans to turn Al-Ula into a permanent cultural destination with open-air museums and galleries.
- Desert X festival previously featured large-scale works by artists including Manal AlDowayan and Superflex in Al-Ula.
- Art Basel and Liste postponed their June art fairs due to COVID-19.
- Manifesta 13 in Marseille was postponed after France closed borders on March 16.
- The inaugural Yerevan Biennial rescheduled to April 15–June 13, 2021, due to Armenia's state of emergency.
- Lorenzo Fusi appointed artistic director and chief curator of the Yerevan Biennial.
- KW Institute for Contemporary Art added four new curators: Kathrin Bentele, Léon Kruijswijk, Dr. Clémentine Deliss, and Nadim Samman.
- Students at NYU Tisch, School of Visual Arts, and Yale School of Art demanded refunds for COVID-19 disruptions.
Entities
Artists
- Manal AlDowayan
- Nasser AlSalem
- Gisela Colon
- Nadim Karam
- eL Seed
- Superflex
- Lorenzo Fusi
- Paul Kasmin
Institutions
- Royal Commission for Al-Ula
- Desert X
- Art Basel
- Liste
- Yerevan Biennial
- Prix International d’Art Contemporain
- Illingworth Kerr Gallery
- KW Institute for Contemporary Art
- MOCA
- New York University’s Tisch School of Arts
- School of Visual Arts
- Yale School of Art
- Manifesta
- Artreview
Locations
- Al-Ula
- Saudi Arabia
- New York
- United States
- Yerevan
- Armenia
- Marseille
- France