Hayfa Algwaiz (b. 1991) is a painter and architect based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Her work has been presented internationally, including a group exhibition at Ithra Museum (Dhahran, KSA); Art Basel Paris with Athr Gallery (2025); Dot Ateliers (Accra, Ghana); Hatch Gallery (Paris, FR); Thaer Select (Paris, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai); N.E.S.T Art Space (AlUla, KSA); Bait Shouaib (Jeddah, KSA); Al Riwaq Art Space (Manama, Bahrain); and Misk Art Institute (Riyadh, KSA), as well as exhibitions supported by the Saudi Ministry of Culture. She also participated in the Saudi Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan.
Algwaiz has been selected for artist residencies at POUSH (Paris, FR), Bait Shouaib with Athr Foundation (Jeddah, KSA), and Dot Ateliers (Accra, Ghana). Her work has been supported through awards and programs including the Misk Art Grant (2023) and the 8th edition of Young Saudi Artists (Athr Foundation).
In 2025, she published an essay titled “Arriving at a Place You Never Left” in Connections as Method: Relational Pedagogies and Participatory Spatial Practice, the second official catalogue of the National Pavilion of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the Venice Biennale Architettura, published by Kaph.
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, USA
Group Exhibition:
2025 | The Spaces We Keep : Dot Ateliers, Accra, GH
2025 | Mirage : Thaer Select x Vertygo, Erth Hotel, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2025 | Relics of Tomorrow : Thaer Select, The Cube at NYU AD, Abu Dhabi, UAE
2025 | Pop Culture of the Saudi Home in the 20th century : Ithra Museum, Dhahran, KSA
2025 | Melange : Thaer Select x Ward Gallery NYC, Paris, France
2025 | Art Basel : Athr Gallery, Paris, FR
2025 | World Expo 2025 : National Pavillion of Saudi Arabia, Osaka, JP
2025 | The Lost Other : Poush, Paris, FR
2025 | Pop-up Exhibition : Hayati Diaries Art Collective & Nomadic Gallery x Thaer Select, Paris, FR
2025 | Nausea : Thaer Select, Dubai, UAE
2025 | Every Morning, A Time : Hatch Gallery, Paris, FR
2025 | All Beautiful Things Are Fragile : Athr Gallery, Riyadh, KSA
2024 | Work in Progress : N.E.S.T Art space, Al-Ula, KSA
2024 | Moving Narratives : Bait Shouaib (Athr Foundation), Jeddah, KSA
2024 | Common Grounds : Ministry of Culture, Riyadh, KSA
2024 | Prince Faisal Bin Fahad Summer Exhibition : Misk Art Institute, Riyadh, KSA
2024 | Emerging Artists : Naila Gallery, Riyadh, KSA
2024 | The Nest: Al Riwaq Art Space, Manama, BAH
2023 | Tracing the Absent : Misk Art Institute, Riyadh, KSA
2023 | On Purpose : Athr Foundation, Riyadh, KSA
2015 | In Search of Emptiness and Wabi Sabi : CCA Galleries, San Francisco, USA
2015 | Iceland Travel Studio : CCA Galleries, Oakland, USA
2014 | Buoyant Ecologies : Autodesk Galleries at Pier 9, San Francisco, USA
Residencies:
2026 | Failaka Institute for Knowledge and Arts Research, Failaka Island, KWT
2025 | Dot Ateliers, Accra, GH
2025 | Poush : Manifesto Middle East x Visual Arts Commission, Paris, FR
2024 | Bait Shouaib : Athr Foundation, Jeddah, KSA
Recognition:
2023 | Young Saudi Artists : 8th Edition, Athr Foundation
2023 | Misk Art Grant : Misk Art Institute
Workshops:
2025 | Drawing Space: From Observation to Model Making : Presbyterian Senior Highschool x Dot Ateliers, Accra, GH
2024 | On Drawing and Spatial Perception : Bait Shouaib, Jeddah, KSA
2023 | Retracing Tradition, an Artist Majlis : Misk Art Institute, Riyadh, KSA
Architectural Experience:
2017 - 2013 | Min Design : Architectural Designer, San Francisco, CA
Recognition, Exhibition:
2023 | SF Design Week Award (Wild Card) : Hidden Room, San Francisco, CA
2023 | AISF Citation Award (Unbuilt Work) : Hidden Room, San Francisco, CA
2023 | Mission Rock Rooms : Garden Party, San Francisco, CA
2015 - 2021 | The Open Workshop : Architectural Designer, Multidisciplinary, San Francisco, CA
Recognition, Exhibition:
2021 | Commoning Domestic Space, Venice Architecture Biennale, Venice, Italy
2019 | The Living Archive, Seoul Biennale for Architecture and Urbanism, Seoul, South Korea
2018 | Ways of Life, Experimenta Urbanam (co-event w/ Documenta 14), Kassel, Germany
2018 | Investigations in Collective Form, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2016 | Impermanence, Architecture League Award at Parson’s Gallery, New York, New York
2016 | Malleable Monuments, Storefront Lab, San Francisco, CA