DUBAI: Riyadh’s Tuwaiq Sculpture symposium has announced its curatorial team and theme for its 2027 edition, with Soha Al-Zaid joining Aldo Rinaldi and Auronda Scalera to curate the event.

Taking place in January 2027, the eighth edition of the annual symposium will be guided by the theme “Where Roots Run Deep,” exploring how a place is shaped by its history, cultural identity and the experiences of the people who inhabit it.

The three curators will oversee the selection of participating artists and provide artistic direction throughout the symposium, which invites the public to watch artists create large-scale sculptures in an open setting.

Rinaldi is a British curator and producer known for commissioning artworks beyond traditional gallery and museum spaces, with a practice spanning public art, architecture and multidisciplinary collaboration. His commissions include works by Roger Hiorns, Maria Thereza Alves and Idris Khan.

Scalera, a British Italian curator, artistic director and cultural strategist, works across contemporary art, digital culture and emerging technologies. Her recent projects include Noor Riyadh 2024 and Art Dubai Digital.

Al-Zaid is a Saudi artist, academic and curator whose work explores culture, identity and visual history in the Kingdom. She chairs the board of the Saudi Scientific Society for Arts and Design and has previously served as editor-in-chief of the Saudi Journal of Arts and Design.

Alongside the curatorial announcement, Riyadh Art has launched an open call for artists to participate in the 2027 symposium. Applications are open until Nov. 8, 2026, with eligible artists from Saudi Arabia and internationally invited to submit proposals responding to the theme.

Selected artists will work with materials including granite, metal, mosaic and cast stone, with Saudi-sourced granite available in Royal Gold, Royal Rose and Green varieties.

The three-week symposium will bring together 20 artists, culminating in an exhibition of completed works that will subsequently be installed permanently across Riyadh.

Since its launch in 2019, Tuwaiq Sculpture has brought together artists from dozens of countries, with 62 sculptures from previous editions permanently installed across the Saudi capital.