For the Islamic Arts Biennale, WithFeeling was tasked with creating a sonic identity that could carry the emotional weight of one of the region’s most important cultural events.
Commissioned by .Pomelo in collaboration with the Diriyah Biennale Foundation, the brief was to create a sound that felt spiritual, contemporary and deeply human. It needed to reflect Islamic art and culture without falling into cliché. It also had to work across a wide ecosystem of touchpoints, including films, social content, installations, events and national moments.
The Biennale, hosted at the Western Hajj Terminal in Jeddah, brought together centuries of faith, artistic expression and cultural memory. The role of WithFeeling was to give that world a musical voice: not simply a soundtrack, but a sonic identity that could become part of the Islamic Arts Biennale’s emotional architecture.
Led by WithFeeling co-founder and composer Joe Dickinson, the team developed a modular musical system built around the idea of duality: past and future, earth and spirit, memory and ambition. At its heart was a descending and ascending diatonic scale, designed to create a sense of movement, reflection and return. Middle Eastern instrumentation was combined with Western harmony to create a sound that felt both rooted and globally resonant.
Live performance was central to the craft. Oud, qanun and cello were recorded at Livingston Studio 1 in London, giving the identity a human depth and texture that could not be achieved through production alone. The final system included a main theme, shorter edits, sonic logo treatments and adaptable versions for cultural and ceremonial use.
The result was a sonic identity that helped the Islamic Arts Biennale express itself with clarity, restraint and emotion. It gave the brand a recognisable musical signature while respecting the sensitivity, scale and cultural significance of the event.
The work has gone on to win multiple awards, including Bronze at the Clio Music Awards in Sonic Branding, a major international recognition for WithFeeling and the wider regional creative industry.
For WithFeeling, the win marked a significant milestone: the agency became the only sonic branding specialist in the region to win a Clio. More importantly, the project showed what sonic branding can become when treated with intent and craft: not a jingle, not background music, but a meaningful layer of identity.
