RIYADH — Noor Riyadh which just launched in the Saudi capital, is the world’s most exciting light and art festival, combining the highest quality of light artworks across the largest city footprint. Celebrated Belgian artist-couple duo Tom&Lien Dekyvere feature on the roster of more than 60 global artists who have been selected to display works at the largest gathering of global light and art themed ‘Under One Sky.’ Since 2012, Tom and Lien Dekyvere (b. 1985 and 1987) have traveled the world to design and install light art installations, amazing and amusing audiences in public spaces, during events and exhibitions and trying to visualize today’s world through light, sound, and material. Tom&Lien Dekyvere’s site-specific Rhizome joins the trees of the Palm Oasis with a web made of hundreds of meters of illuminated rope to symbolize a house, a cocoon from which to meditate on contemporary society’s (dis)connectedness. Tom Dekyvere said: “Rhizome is conceived around the idea of connectivity but also dysconnectivity. Just like the roots of a tree, connected underground, we humans are connected to each other. “Sound and light, incorporated into the natural environment, provide an opportunity to play with the artistic ingredients of the work.” “Our installation is in Riyadh’s city-center which coincidentally reminds me of Bruges, the Belgian medieval city where Lien and I live. Both Riyadh and Bruges are cities with fantastic cultural heritage which makes me feel at home. “For Noor Riyadh we took the concept of Rhizome and made it specific to the sights, sounds and environment of Riyadh city; we built it into the palm trees. “I hope that visitors enjoy pausing and contemplating the work’s geometric patterns and reflect on the connectivity of the artwork and the wider world. We are all connected and ideally this work gets people outside, enjoying life.” Tom Dekyvere will also be holding an animated Light is Connection, a workshop, as part of Noor Riyadh’s Kids Art Lab events. The Noor Riyadh festival is part of the larger Riyadh Art program that is installing more than 1,000 pieces of public art to turn the city into a gallery without walls. Noor Riyadh is a citywide festival of light and art as a Riyadh Art program, March 18 – April 3, 2021. — SG