AlUla Arts Festival 2024
Welcome to the AlUla Arts Festival 2024, a vibrant celebration of AlUla’s enduring legacy of artistic ambition.
The festival showcases and transcends the traditional boundaries of art, allowing visitors and artists alike to interact with the vast and lively cultural oasis. It bridges together the traditional and the contemporary, and plays host to emerging artists and veterans alike; all with the shared quest of artistic expression and an open, shared dialogue with a captive audience.
Let us embark together on a journey of history, identity, beauty, and artistic pursuit.
The festival showcases and transcends the traditional boundaries of art, allowing visitors and artists alike to interact with the vast and lively cultural oasis. It bridges together the traditional and the contemporary, and plays host to emerging artists and veterans alike; all with the shared quest of artistic expression and an open, shared dialogue with a captive audience.
Let us embark together on a journey of history, identity, beauty, and artistic pursuit.
Ithra Art Prize
The winner of the largest art prize in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Obaid Alsafi, unveils his winning artwork, Palms in Eternal Embrace. The 6th edition of the annual prize is being conducted by the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) in collaboration with Arts AlUla. This partnership marks the first time both organisations are working together and is a part of their broader initiative to foster creativity in Saudi Arabia and the region.
This year’s theme, Art in the Landscape, called for submissions of public artwork proposals that are site-specific to AlUla and present interpretations of AlUla’s unique landscapes and natural heritage. The winning large-scale, site-specific installation will be exhibited for six weeks amid the 2.3 million date palms of the AlUla Oasis. It aims to encourage viewers to reflect on ways to safeguard the natural environment and bring attention to endangered palm trees, which are a compelling symbol of the landscapes and heritage of the Arabian Peninsula.
This year’s theme, Art in the Landscape, called for submissions of public artwork proposals that are site-specific to AlUla and present interpretations of AlUla’s unique landscapes and natural heritage. The winning large-scale, site-specific installation will be exhibited for six weeks amid the 2.3 million date palms of the AlUla Oasis. It aims to encourage viewers to reflect on ways to safeguard the natural environment and bring attention to endangered palm trees, which are a compelling symbol of the landscapes and heritage of the Arabian Peninsula.
Wadi AlFann
Wadi AlFann presents Manal AlDowayan, one of Saudi Arabia's most significant contemporary artists, in the lead-up to her new Wadi AlFann presents Manal AlDowayan, one of Saudi Arabia's most significant contemporary artists, in the lead-up to her new land art commission, Oasis of Stories. The large-scale labyrinthine installation, inspired by AlUla’s Old Town, will be a permanent fixture in AlUla’s monumental desert landscape from 2026. During AlUla Arts Festival, two adjacent exhibitions—featuring drawing, ceramic, soft sculpture, painting, and weaving—will take place in AlJadidah arts district, at the heart of AlUla’s arts community.
The first exhibition marks a milestone in the development of Oasis of Stories: on display are hundreds of drawings gathered from the artist’s participatory workshops with communities across AlUla. These drawings and stories will eventually be inscribed into the walls of Oasis of Stories, enabling AlUla’s residents to leave their permanent trace in Wadi AlFann. A parallel exhibition, presented in collaboration with Sabrina Amrani Gallery, titled Their Love Is Like All Loves, Their Death Is Like All Deaths, delves further into AlDowayan’s practice. Works include: soft sculptures made of tussar silk, printed with images related to AlUla’s heritage; labyrinth-like drawings inspired by AlUla’s Old Town; engraved clay works made of mud gathered from across Saudi Arabia; and wall pieces featuring Sadu textile weaving, a technique traditionally used by Bedouin women.
The first exhibition marks a milestone in the development of Oasis of Stories: on display are hundreds of drawings gathered from the artist’s participatory workshops with communities across AlUla. These drawings and stories will eventually be inscribed into the walls of Oasis of Stories, enabling AlUla’s residents to leave their permanent trace in Wadi AlFann. A parallel exhibition, presented in collaboration with Sabrina Amrani Gallery, titled Their Love Is Like All Loves, Their Death Is Like All Deaths, delves further into AlDowayan’s practice. Works include: soft sculptures made of tussar silk, printed with images related to AlUla’s heritage; labyrinth-like drawings inspired by AlUla’s Old Town; engraved clay works made of mud gathered from across Saudi Arabia; and wall pieces featuring Sadu textile weaving, a technique traditionally used by Bedouin women.
AlUla Artist Residency
Arts AlUla presents two Artist Residency exhibitions, the Visual Art Residency exhibition, The Shadow Over Everything, and the Design Residency exhibition, Unguessed Kinships, which will run until 30th April 2024, emphasising AlUla's emerging role as a focal point for cultural exchange and artistic innovation in the region.
The exhibitions showcase pieces created by international artists and designers invited to participate in the AlUla Artist Residency Programme, founded in partnership with the French Agency for AlUla Development (Afalula). The exhibitions will be hosted at two distinct outdoor venues: Mabiti in The Palm Grove and Madrasat Addeera.
The exhibitions showcase pieces created by international artists and designers invited to participate in the AlUla Artist Residency Programme, founded in partnership with the French Agency for AlUla Development (Afalula). The exhibitions will be hosted at two distinct outdoor venues: Mabiti in The Palm Grove and Madrasat Addeera.
AlUla 1445
Featuring images by artist Hassan Hajjaj, renowned for his work that merges contemporary art, fashion, and cultural identity. Hajjaj photographed local people and residents in February 2023 in an outdoor studio at Madrasat Addeera. The subjects include farmers, sports teams, merchants, craftspeople, and the creative community.
More than Meets the Eye
An exhibition of contemporary works by Saudi artists, on loan from collectors in Saudi Arabia, hosted at Maraya. Curated by Dr. Effat Abdullah Fadag, the exhibition will re-canonise the history of the contemporary art movements in Saudi Arabia, documenting the story of artists and the role of collectors in the development of the art scene. The exhibition will run from February 9 – April 27, 2024 and is part of the pre-opening programme for the future contemporary art museum in AlUla.
With works by pioneering Saudi artists such as Abdulhalim Radwi, Mohammed Alsaleem, and Mounirah Mously, alongside leading contemporary Saudi artists such as Ahmed Mater, Muhannad Shono, and Dana Awartani, the exhibition explores connections, influences and shared stories from across generations of Saudi artists.
With works by pioneering Saudi artists such as Abdulhalim Radwi, Mohammed Alsaleem, and Mounirah Mously, alongside leading contemporary Saudi artists such as Ahmed Mater, Muhannad Shono, and Dana Awartani, the exhibition explores connections, influences and shared stories from across generations of Saudi artists.
Desert X AlUla 2024
The recurring and temporary, site-responsive, international open-air art exhibition Desert X AlUla returns for its third edition from 9 February – 23 March 2024, placing visionary contemporary artworks by Saudi and international artists amidst the extraordinary desert landscape of AlUla. This year’s exhibition, under the curatorial vision of Maya El Khalil and Marcello Dantas, with artistic direction from Raneem Farsi and Neville Wakefield, features 15 newly commissioned artworks.
Under the theme of In the Presence of Absence, Desert X AlUla 2024 asks ‘what cannot be seen?’ Often dismissed as spaces of emptiness, deserts are rendered mute and static, but there is much more than meets the eye. This edition of Desert X AlUla will be spread out across three locations for the first time: in the desert landscape of Wadi AlFann; amongst the black lava stone terrain and breathtaking views of Harrat Uwayrid; at the AlManshiyah Plaza, which reveals the many layers of history and cultural confluence you find in AlUla.
Under the theme of In the Presence of Absence, Desert X AlUla 2024 asks ‘what cannot be seen?’ Often dismissed as spaces of emptiness, deserts are rendered mute and static, but there is much more than meets the eye. This edition of Desert X AlUla will be spread out across three locations for the first time: in the desert landscape of Wadi AlFann; amongst the black lava stone terrain and breathtaking views of Harrat Uwayrid; at the AlManshiyah Plaza, which reveals the many layers of history and cultural confluence you find in AlUla.
Design Space AlUla
February 2024 will mark the opening of Design Space AlUla, a focal point for showcasing AlUla's wide-ranging design initiatives, contributing to the wider vision for AlUla. Located in the AlJadidah Arts District, Design Space AlUla provides exhibition, workshop, and archive spaces, and is designed to foster collaboration among design professionals, students, and design enthusiasts, whilst strengthening AlUla’s legacy across the cultural sphere as a catalyst for creative inspiration and design.
The inaugural exhibition, Mawrid: Celebrating Inspired Design, curated by Sara Ghani, will introduce the design thinking process behind 10 recent AlUla-inspired projects across the design, architecture, and urban planning spaces. The launch programme, taking place between 15 - 17 February 2024, will include keynote presentations, masterclasses, workshops, panel discussions, and design tours.
The inaugural exhibition, Mawrid: Celebrating Inspired Design, curated by Sara Ghani, will introduce the design thinking process behind 10 recent AlUla-inspired projects across the design, architecture, and urban planning spaces. The launch programme, taking place between 15 - 17 February 2024, will include keynote presentations, masterclasses, workshops, panel discussions, and design tours.
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