‘Upcycling Wonderground’: Diriyah Biennale finds a sustainable encore in children’s hands
DIRIYAH: The Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale — enticing with groundbreaking art installations, countless canvases and tapestries, and endless stories — closed last month, but its final act is sure to also leave a sustainable mark in the world.
The Studio Youth event “Upcycling Wonderground” transforms the iconic B1 Gallery into a playground for children, to let their creativity run wild across cardboard kingdoms, painted arenas, puppet parades, tumbling performers, and caravans built from reclaimed biennale materials.
Rayanne Zaim, associate director of public programs at the biennale, told Arab News: “What happens at the end of every Biennale is we dismantle, works go to where they need to go, materials get recycled, so everything’s taken apart.
“And we’ve been in the works of thinking about it for a couple of years: How do we let it live on? So we (thought), what better than to create an upcycling event where we let the kids come, take over, and also learn about recycling, sustainability, and making the most out of things that you already have that’s in your house?”
