Next to a former royal palace in Riyadh sits a museum holding 7,000 years of history: a meteorite older than memory, lost gold cities, and the birth of a kingdom.

From a mudbrick citadel that gave birth to a kingdom to a forgotten 1980s mall reborn as a hub for contemporary art, Riyadh hides some of its best stories in plain sight. Here is where to find them.

At the inaugural edition of Art Week Riyadh, I find myself surrounded by works from both established artists and emerging talents across Saudi Arabia and the greater MENA region — each contributing to a collective endeavour to redefine and shape their identities.