From the press office of Art Jameel

Broad range of exhibitions and arts programs available, featuring more than 45 artists and creatives from 20 countries, followed in the spring by new partner creative spaces and Saudi’s first arthouse cinema
  • Hayy Jameel’s opening season unfolds from December 6, 2021 through to April 30, 2022, with each month dedicated to celebrating the creative complex’s varied elements
  • Hayy Arts’ inaugural programs include international group exhibition ‘Staple: What’s on your plate?’, co-curated by Art Jameel and Delfina Foundation; ‘Illuminate: a Noor Riyadh Capsule’, featuring major light works by 11 Saudi artists; ‘Paused Mirror’, a newly-commissioned collection of portraits of Saudi artists by Osama Esid; ‘Hayy Jameel: A creative community in the making’ by waiwai; ‘Tactile Surfaces’ by Bricklab; and the inaugural Hayy Jamel Façade Commission, awarded to artist Nasser Almulhim
  • The exhibitions and installations are accompanied by a wealth of new interactive community projects, workshops, tours and talks across the five-month season
  • Hayy Jameel’s opening season includes the opening of Hayy Residents’ spaces in January-February and culminates with the opening of Hayy Cinema, Saudi’s first bespoke independent audiovisual center

Art Jameel, the independent organization that supports artists and creative communities, welcomes visitors to Jeddah’s new creative complex, Hayy Jameel, from December 6, 2021 with an opening season that extends to April 30, 2022. 

The launch of Hayy Jameel marks 75 years of Jameel family global philanthropy.  The opening season celebrates Hayy Jameel’s multidisciplinary approach and its role as Jeddah’s home for the arts: December 2021 sees the inauguration of Hayy Arts and a roster of new exhibitions, commissions, projects and installations revealed across the creative complex, accompanied by Hayy Learning and Hayy Studios programs; January – February 2022 has a focus on Jeddah’s cultural entrepreneurship with the first Hayy Residents moving into their spaces; and in March – April 2022, Hayy Cinema is set to open with Hayy Community, celebrated through a series of programs, workshops, screenings and a special Ramadan calendar.

Photo credit: Mohammed Alaskandrani

Welcoming the public from December 6, 2021, Hayy Jameel’s highly collaborative and innovative inaugural program focusses on visual arts, steeped in long-term research and marked by participatory, material interventions ranging from sculptures in chocolate through to immersive light works and audiovisual structures. The program is rooted in the context of Jeddah yet speaks to urgent themes of global relevance, involving more than 45 artists and researchers from around 20 countries and featuring existing and newly-commissioned works by 19 artists from Saudi Arabia. 

Hayy Jameel, a 17,000-square-metre cultural complex, is designed by waiwai, an award-winning multidisciplinary architecture, landscape, interior, graphic and urban design studio, with offices in Dubai and Tokyo. Hayy Jameel’s building design has received multiple architectural accolades, including Gold in the Hong Kong Design Awards; Silver in the New York Design Awards; the Honour Award for Exceptional Design by the American Institute of Architects (Middle East chapter); and nominations for the 2A Continental Architectural Award and the London Design Awards. Principal architects Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto were recently awarded the Golden Lion for their curation of the UAE Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale; Hayy Jameel is their first major public building.

Fady Jameel, Chairman and Founder, Art Jameel, commented:

“The opening of Hayy Jameel on December 6 is a milestone that marks 75 years of Jameel family global philanthropy. Jeddah now has a new destination; a cultural complex designed as a home for a wide range of creative disciplines. Art Jameel has been working towards the opening of Hayy Jameel for more than 20 years. We have envisioned this complex and this opening moment with key cultural collaborators, and always with the community at the heart of our plans. The effort and passion of those who make up the Hayy Jameel community embody our commitment to playing our part in driving positive and impactful change for the city of Jeddah and the arts community across this region and beyond.”

Antonia Carver, Director, Art Jameel, also added: “Hayy Jameel’s opening season embodies the way we seek to work at Art Jameel — building programs that are rooted in a local context with global resonance, that are developed through long-term research and exchange with artists and creative practitioners. Now we finally get to open up this exchange and our Hayy, our neighbourhood, to the public, welcoming visitors to this stunning campus, designed specifically for its context and the needs of the local creative community.”

Sara Al-Omran, Deputy Director, Art Jameel, said: “Hayy Jameel is designed to bring together a broad range of creative disciplines in one destination. The first Hayy Residents to join us during the opening season are all partners with Art Jameel in this journey, and they embody the best of the Saudi creative spirit — all are pioneering enterprises with renewed and compelling new concepts – from contemporary art and design to performance and culinary arts, through to publishing and design houses.”

Find out more about Hayy Jameel’s Opening Season Program here. 

Hayy Jameel is located in Al Mohammadiyyah area. Open to the public from December 6, 2021, Hayy Jameel offers free entrance to all. Opening hours are:

  • Sunday-Thursday: 10:00am – 6:00pm
  • Friday: 2:00pm – 10:00pm
  • Saturday: 12:00pm – 8:00pm
  • Tuesday: Closed
Hayy Jameel at night. Photo credit: Turki Al Angari