Rami Alqthami Questions Borders & Belonging at the Diriyah Biennale

Saudi multimedia artist Ramy Alqthami presents ‘Al Bitra’ at the 2026 Diriyah Biennale—a concrete post used to demarcate his family’s land in the Taif region, randomly assigned by the leaders of his tribe. The three photographs that hang on the wall behind the freestanding block display its original location erected in the sand.

In the first, a man attempts to remove the structure with a pickaxe; in the second, the block appears half-fallen in the sand, the axe unmanned; in the third, the sand is empty of people or tools, just a hole remaining where the post once stood.

In his installation, Alqthami questions borders, authority, and the unwritten laws that shape public space, movement, and belonging. "Border are the imaginary lines drawn by humans in an attempt to live in security or peace. Yet it is frightening for a person to remain without shelter, suspended within those imaginary lines,” he says.

At the third Diriyah Biennale, the international exhibition featuring artists from 37 countries, Alqthami noted that Saudi’s art scene is accelerating fast—and that Saudi artists still have far more to show the world.