Arwa AlNeami (b. 1985, Khamis Mushait, Asir, Saudi Arabia), and currently lives and works in Diriyah. Raised near the King Khalid Air Base and hailing from the village of Rijal Almaa, she began her artistic journey in 2005 at the Al Muftaha Center for Traditional Arts in Abha. In 2014, AlNeami became the first woman permitted to photograph inside the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina for her project “A Piece of Paradise.” During the 2010s, she lived in Jeddah, co-founding Pharan Studio and her own Arwa Studio, and exhibiting both locally and internationally. From 2013 to 2019, she developed the photographic series “Never Never Land,” documenting a pivotal era in Saudi Arabia’s evolving future.

Recently, she participated in an artist residency at Qatar’s Fire Station, where she held workshops, lectures and a solo exhibition during the 2022 World Cup.

After a career shaped by breaking boundaries and asking bold questions, Arwa AlNeami embarks on a new creative chapter through an arts residency at Diriyah Art Futures (DAF). But this is no ordinary project—it’s an immersive sensory experience that dives deep into the micro and the metaphysical, transforming microscopic grains of sand into digital gateways, where myth and technology collide in realms that ignite the imagination.