Personal Narratives: Space, Spirituality & Consumerism at World Expo, 2025

Working alongside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture, DDX produced a rich and diverse programme of creative residencies and experiences within the Saudi Pavilion at World Expo 2025. The evolving programme features artists, exhibitions, musicians and live performances, showcasing a changing roster of Saudi talent throughout Expo’s six-month run.

The first group show brought together three leading contemporary Saudi artists, Marwah Almugait, Rashed AlShashai, and Sultan Bin Fahad. Working closely with Saudi curators, the exhibition took residency in the Cultural Arts Studio and explored interlinked themes of memory, culture, and existence.

Titled Personal Narratives: Space, Spirituality & Consumerism, the exhibition featured work by Marwah Almugait, a Riyadh-born multimedia artist whose practice spans photography, film and performance. Almugait’s contribution centred on the often-overlooked moments of daily life and the nuances of the human condition, bringing a quiet yet compelling emotional depth to the show.

Rashed AlShashai, an artist, curator and educator known for investigating cultural transformation and identity in the modern Kingdom, activated the studio space with his signature lightboxes. Demonstrating his creative process live using locally sourced materials and recognisable brands, he offered visitors an immediate and engaging window into the conceptual foundations of his work and the evolving cultural narratives it reflects.

Sultan Bin Fahad introduced a distinctly interactive layer to the exhibition through his multidisciplinary practice, which explores the intersection of memory and material culture across drawing, sculpture, and installation. He created a bespoke artwork stamp for visitors - a fusion of Japanese stamp-collecting traditions with Saudi artistic expression - that quickly became one of the pavilion’s most popular features. Its success prompted the addition of extra stamping sessions and later inspired future artists, including those in the Manga and Al Qatt shows, to develop unique stamps of their own, extending the exhibition’s spirit of participation and discovery.

Blending deeply personal narratives with bold artistic visions, this group show offered visitors a vivid introduction to the breadth and momentum of Saudi contemporary art.