Visitors to the Saudi city of Jeddah are coming across a few surprises.

Outdoors, in Al Balad, the atmospheric old town, hangs a piece titled, 'I Am Here.'

It's part of "21,39", an art initiative named after the city's geographic coordinates and funded by the Jeddah-based Saudi Art Council.

Artworks are peppered throughout the city.

Leading gallery Athr has also put on an exhibition with specially commissioned works.

Young artist Sara Abdou wrote a poem, recorded it and used the sound waves to create the troughs and peaks of a miniature sand-dune landscape.

Abdou says the week devoted to art has a beneficial effect for artists, and gives them a wider platform.

"21,39 is an opportunity for the local artists to meet people from all around the world - people who have connections with museums, art institutions, and people who have an interest in art," she says.

21,39 also offers the public a chance to visit artists' studios and to see work being created.

Ahmed Angawi crafts shapes and forms that interlock, much like the structure of bee hives.

He is using these forms to make screens that are inspired by the traditional mangour - or mashrabiya screens - found in Mecca and Medina.

His screens were recently commissioned for a new gallery in the British Museum.

"I created a workshop in London to make the piece," says Ahmed Angawi.

"The work needed lots of studies - documentation and analysis," he adds.

Some of the art is displayed outside in private galleries.

In an overgrown garden, artist Maryam Beydoun has installed her modern interpretation of the ancient tradition of Islamic gardens.

"Gardens of Time" includes plastic mats made in China which replace the traditional rugs of old.

Instead of pure clear water running from fountains, Beydoun has substituted shattered shards of glass.

"The work demonstrates the importance of Islamic gardens in the contemporary era," she explains.

This year's 21,39 includes workshops which bring Saudi artists together with their counterparts from Egypt in a shared studio space.

Aarnout Helb, who runs the Greenbox of Contemporary Art in Amsterdam, says gallery owners are crucial in this field.

"The best way to buy them (artwork from Saudi Arabia) is from gallery owners who give long term support to artists and allow them to build a practice and help them printing books."

The main exhibition is in the Saudi Art Council's spacious headquarters at the Gold Moor Mall.

The space is called "Al Obour," meaning "transitions," and has 25 participating artists on show.