For Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026, WithFeeling created Converge, a longform sonic identity built from local musicians, field recordings and modular movements, designed to live inside the exhibition rather than sit on top of it.
- Client
- Diriyah Biennale Foundation
- Agency
- dot Pomelo
Sound
0:00 / 0:00
CONTEMPORARY ART BIENNALE
A Biennale built around movement needed a sound that could move with it. WithFeeling created Converge, a loopable sonic identity for Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026, designed to flow through JAX District without a clear beginning or end.
The Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026 brought together more than 70 artists across disciplines, with over 20 newly commissioned works, at JAX District in Diriyah. The edition, titled In Interludes and Transitions / في الحِلّ والترحال, explored movement, migration, exchange and the cultural rhythms of the Arabian Peninsula.
WithFeeling was commissioned to create a sonic identity that could belong inside this world, not simply accompany it.
The result was Converge, an eight-minute longform composition designed as a seamless, loopable soundscape. Built from local musicians, field recordings and contemporary textures, the piece was created to feel open, immersive and alive within the exhibition environment.
THE CHALLENGE
Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026 was not designed as a linear experience.
Visitors could enter, pause, return and move through JAX District in different ways. A traditional soundtrack, with an obvious beginning and ending, would have felt too fixed for an exhibition built around cycles, transition and movement.
The music needed to create atmosphere without taking over. It had to shape the space, support the curatorial vision and remain emotionally present without becoming intrusive.
THE APPROACH
WithFeeling approached the project as a sonic system rather than a single track.
Composer Joe Dickinson developed Converge as a sequence of interlinked movements, each carrying a distinct energy while staying within one unified musical language. Local musicians were recorded on site at JAX District, while field recordings captured the subtle environmental sounds of the space, including air movement, reverberation and physical texture.
The piece was designed to loop invisibly, with no obvious intro, no final statement and no sense of interruption. Visitors could enter the sound at any point and still feel part of the same evolving atmosphere.
From the longform composition, WithFeeling created a wider sonic identity system, including loopable spatial versions, individual movement edits, sonic logos, reprises and modular stems for adaptive use.
THE RESULT
The final sonic identity gave Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale 2026 a sound that felt embedded in place.
Rather than functioning as background music, Converge became an architectural layer of the exhibition, helping guide pace, emotion and atmosphere across the visitor experience.
It also created a flexible cultural asset for future use, with the potential to support ceremonies, public programmes, digital films, institutional communications and future Biennale moments.
For WithFeeling, the project shows how sound can become part of the fabric of a cultural space. Not a track that starts and ends, but an identity that continues to evolve.
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