New Riyadh museum traces oil’s global impact

Welcome to AL-MONITOR Riyadh.

The Black Gold Museum has opened in Riyadh, tracing the history of petroleum through modern and contemporary art. We also highlight the return of the 21st Taif Rose Festival, dedicated to the city’s famed blooms, alongside updates on event postponements and rescheduling across Saudi Arabia amid ongoing regional instability.

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Happy reading,

Rebecca

P.S. Have feedback or tips on Riyadh's culture scene? Send them my way at contactus@al-monitor.com.

1. Leading the week: Black Gold Museum  

An exhibition view of “Dreams” at the new Black Gold Museum in Riyadh. (Courtesy of Black Gold Museum) 

The Black Gold Museum, located at the Zaha Hadid-designed King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) in Riyadh, opened last week, marking a milestone in Saudi Arabia’s evolving cultural landscape. The first institution of its kind, it explores the transformative impact of oil on global development and societies through modern and contemporary art.

The museum houses a permanent collection of more than 350 works from over 30 countries, created by more than 170 Saudi and international artists, including Manal AlDowayan, Ahmed Mater, Muhannad Shono, Mohammad Alfaraj, Ayman Zedani, Doug Aitken, Jimmie Durham, Dennis Hopper, Alfredo Jaar, Renaud Layrac, George Sabra, Pascale Marthine Tayou and Andy Wauman, among others.

Organized into four interactive sections — Encounter, Dreams, Doubts and Visions — the museum invites visitors to engage with the story of petroleum, or “black gold,” through an artistic lens.

“Unlike science or industry museums, the Black Gold Museum weaves an intricate story of petroleum and humanity through great modern and contemporary artworks,” said Jack Persekian, director of the Black Gold Museum told Al-Monitor in an e-mail statement. “Although one or two other museums dedicated to petroleum exist in the world, the Black Gold Museum is unique, for it is not only concerned with petroleum’s discovery, biochemical composition and subsequent industrialization, it addresses the vital aspects of its socioeconomic, political, environmental and cultural impact on humanity.”

Location: King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center, Airport Road, Riyadh

Find more information here. 

2. Word on the street: Botanica

A view of dishes at the new Botanica at Kimpton Hotel in KAFD, Riyadh. (Courtesy of Botanica)

Often described as a greenery-led restaurant, this airy, laid-back eatery at the Kimpton Hotel in Riyadh’s financial district blends international flavors with Saudi touches, using fresh, locally sourced ingredients. Set in an elegant, nature-inspired space, highlights include creamy Saudi cheese risotto, shrimp tacos, premium steaks and a Saudi-inspired tiramisu made with coffee, dates and saffron.

Location: Kimpton Hotel, King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), 7422 Innovation Street, Al Aqeeq, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Find more information here.

3. Riyadh diary

A worker at the Bin Salman farm sits amidst freshly picked Damascena (Damask) roses in the air, used to produce rose water and oil, in the western Saudi city of Taif, on April 11, 2021. (FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images)

• Taif Rose Festival

Taif, a city in Saudi Arabia’s Hejaz Mountains, has long been known as the City of Roses. Sitting at an altitude of more than 1,800 meters, it is famed for cultivating the Taif rose — a 30-petaled Damask variety that blooms each spring and is prized across the region and beyond for its rich fragrance, widely used in traditional Saudi products and luxury perfumes.

Now in its 21st edition, the Taif Rose Festival — launched in 2005 by the Saudi Ministry of Culture — celebrates the annual harvest with events including a large floral carpet, cultural performances and distillation workshops. During its second edition, the festival set a Guinness World Record for the largest basket of roses, featuring 84,450 blooms assembled over 168 hours by 190 participants.

Date: Until April 23

Location: Al Rudaf Park, Taif, Saudi Arabia

Find more information here. 

• ‘Timekeeper: Archives in Transformation’

The 2026 edition of The Research Room, an annual symposium exploring the relationship between art and the everyday, takes place this year under the theme Timekeepers: The Archive in Flux, examining how memory is shaped, preserved, embodied and transformed. Held over four days, the program brings together artists, curators, historians, technologists and cultural thinkers for a series of talks, workshops and participatory sessions exploring the evolving role and meaning of the archive.

Date: April 22-25

Location: Diriyah Biennale Foundation, JAX District, Diriyah, Riyadh

Find more information here. 

• Saudi events rescheduled and postponed

Saudi Arabia’s LEAP technology conference — which, according to Arab News, has generated more than $42 billion in investment across its first four editions — has been rescheduled from April 13-16 to Aug. 31 to Sept.3 at the Riyadh Exhibition & Convention Center in Malham due to the ongoing regional conflict.

The 12th Saudi Film Festival, originally set for April 23-29, in Dhahran, has also been postponed and will now take place from June 25 to July 1 at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture — also known as Ithra. The festival will spotlight Korean cinema and is organized by the Cinema Association in partnership with Ithra and the Saudi Film Commission.

4. Book of the week: ‘King of Kings’

This New York Times bestseller offers a compelling narrative history of the 1979 Iranian Revolution and its far-reaching consequences. Author Scott Anderson, the bestselling author of “Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East” — a Sunday Times bestseller — examines the downfall of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the US miscalculations that turned a key ally into a major adversary — a timely read for context on the current conflict.

5. View from Riyadh

His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy and Chairman of KAPSARC’s Board of Trustees, alongside His Highness Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture and Director of the museum, and Jack Persekian, director of the Black Gold Museum, officially inaugurate the Black Gold Museum KAPSARC on April 6, 2026 in Riyadh, marking a significant milestone in Saudi Arabia’s cultural landscape. (Courtesy of Black Gold Museum)

6. By the numbers

• Saudi Arabia holds approximately 17% of the world’s proven petroleum reserves, largely located in the Eastern Province and the Ghawar field, according to the US International Trade Administration.
• The kingdom is the world’s second-largest petroleum producer, behind the US and Russia.