– Internationally coveted festival graces the ancient city from February 8 to
February 24, 2024
– Third edition presents three flagship events alongside exhibitions, tours, workshops and more
– Multi-arts festival takes place under AlUla Moments; further announcements coming soon
AlUla, Saudi Arabia – : AlUla Moments announced today that the internationally coveted AlUla Arts Festival is back in the ancient city for a third successive year from February 8, 2024. Met with audience acclaim since 2022, the multi-arts festival returns to the limelight with a world-class program for visitors to explore, featuring flagship events, immersive exhibitions, and creative initiatives for a city-wide celebration of all things art.
Running until February 24, this three-week program of city-wide art will cast a unique spotlight on AlUla’s status as a place of creative inspiration and cultural exchange for millennia; igniting imagination, sparking dialogue, and highlighting AlUla as a leading centre for contemporary art and art in the landscape with a vision to revive the ancient arts of civilisations gone by.
At the heart of the festival is its exceptional trio of flagship events. Desert X AlUla returns for its third edition from 8 February – 23 March 2024, placing visionary contemporary artworks by Saudi and international artists amidst the extraordinary desert landscape of AlUla. Free and open to all, Desert X AlUla is the first site-responsive exhibition of its kind in Saudi Arabia, fostering exchange between artists, curators and international and local communities, shaped by a curatorial vision that takes the desert as its inspiration.
Another delight for visitors will be Wadi AlFann, the soon-to-open cultural destination where large-scale, site-specific works of contemporary land art will be permanently placed in AlUla’s stunning desert landscape from 2026. Opening at this year’s festival as part of Wadi AlFann’s pre-opening programme is an exhibition by Saudi artist Manal AlDowayan showcasing her participatory work capturing stories from AlUla’s communities, which is leading towards her era-defining commission for Wadi AlFann, titled Oasis of Stories.
The exhibition ‘More than meets the Eye’ completes the flagship event lineup, where visitors will explore an exhibition of modern and contemporary works by Saudi artists. With support from a host of prominent Saudi art collectors, the exhibition will re-canonise the history of modern and contemporary art in Saudi Arabia, documenting the story of artists and recent movements. The exhibition is part of the pre-opening program for the contemporary art museum in AlUla, a museum of regional and global contemporary art with the Arab world at its core.
Elsewhere during AlUla Arts Festival, visitors can look forward to a host of live performances, photography exhibitions, street-art tours, cinema screenings, and hands-on workshops. The latter will be available at Madrasat Addeera, AlUla’s mixed-use creative hub, and range from palm weaving, pottery, and jewelry to geometry, 3D strictures, textiles, and many more. Culture enthusiasts can also visit Design Space AlUla, which will be opening during the Arts Festival with its inaugural exhibition.
As a historical crossroads, a center of arts and culture, and home to innovative civilizations across the millennia, AlUla is the perfect locale for such a world-class art spectacle. Further AlUla Arts Festival announcements will follow soon and more information is available on the Experience AlUla website.