Hayy Jameel

Hayy Jameel is developed and managed by Art Jameel as a dedicated arts complex and creative hub for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Hayy joins Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai – which opened in 2018 – in its efforts to build culture-oriented, connected communities. Hayy references an Arabic word for neighbourhood, denoting the convivial and collaborative nature of the complex and its intent on bringing together a wide range of creative disciplines in one destination.

Alongside the museum Hayy Arts, education platform Hayy Learning and Hayy Studios is Hayy Cinema, Saudi’s first independent audiovisual centre, designed by Jeddah-based architects Bricklab. Fenaa Hayy, a multi-purpose space for performances, workshops and talks opens onto Saha, a central community courtyard underpinned by philosophies of sustainability and adaptability. 

The Art Jameel-run not-for-profit spaces are joined by Hayy Residents – a set of pioneering, homegrown creative enterprises that range from contemporary art and performance to design and publishing, culinary institutes, new cafes and eateries. 

The opening season celebrates Hayy Jameel’s multidisciplinary approach and its role as Jeddah’s home for the arts: December 2021 sees the inauguration of Hayy Arts and a roster of new exhibitions, commissions, projects and installations revealed across the creative complex, accompanied by Hayy Learning and Hayy Studios programmes; January – February 2022 has a focus on Jeddah’s cultural entrepreneurship with the first Hayy Residents moving into their spaces; and in March – April 2022, Hayy Cinema is set to open with Hayy Community, celebrated through a series of programmes, workshops, screenings and a special Ramadan calendar.

Welcoming the public from December 6, 2021, Hayy Jameel’s highly collaborative and innovative inaugural programme focusses on visual arts, steeped in long-term research and marked by participatory, material interventions ranging from sculptures in chocolate through to immersive light works and audiovisual structures. The programme is rooted in the context of Jeddah yet speaks to urgent themes of global relevance, involving more than 45 artists and researchers from around 20 countries and featuring existing and newly-commissioned works by 19 artists from Saudi Arabia. 

Hayy Jameel, a 17,000-square-metre cultural complex, is designed by waiwai, an award-winning multidisciplinary architecture, landscape, interior, graphic and urban design studio, with offices in Dubai and Tokyo. Hayy Jameel’s building design has received multiple architectural accolades, including Gold in the Hong Kong Design Awards; Silver in the New York Design Awards; the Honour Award for Exceptional Design by the American Institute of Architects (Middle East chapter); and nominations for the 2A Continental Architectural Award and the London Design Awards. Principal architects Wael Al Awar and Kenichi Teramoto were recently awarded the Golden Lion for their curation of the UAE Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale; Hayy Jameel is their first major public building.