AlUla Arts Festival in Saudi Arabia concludes
The event enabled visitors to experience arts and culture from Saudi like never before
The AlUla Arts Festival has come to a close. Running from February 13 until March 31 2022, the event provided a stunning showcase of leading-edge modern art along with ancient crafts that have been preserved for a millennia in the Kingdom. Hosted in the heritage site of AlUla in Saudi Arabia, the festival saw several landmark events making it a vibrant hub for activity and performances.
At the festival, visitors indulged at AlJadidah, which had several restaurants, shops and more and was decorated with exquisite murals. It also featured the world’s largest hand-painted carpet line the road for visitors.
The festival also saw the first AlUla Artist Residency that had the works from six participating artists on display at The Oasis Reborn Exhibition. Located in the palm-grove of Mabiti AlUla, the exhibition welcomed visitors to the cultural oasis of AlUla and enabled them to discover new perspectives on this ancient landscape.
On showcase at the AlUla Artist Residency were pieces created by artists Rashed AlShashai, Sara Favriau, Muhannad Shono, Talin Hazbar, Laura Sellies and Sofiane Si Merabet following their research-based residency in AlUla. Their works were displayed in a date farm in central AlUla, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the local landscape and interact with the AlUla community. The Oasis Reborn Art Residency and Exhibition was held in collaboration with Afalula.
Running from March 1 until 31, the Barzan Living Gardens, meanwhile, was a showcase of the natural beauty and the stunning heritage of AlUla, as well as the resources of the AlUla Oasis. The visitors, accompanied by guides, were able to explore this living landscape and discover its stories through the prism of art, heritage and nature.
The AlUla Arts Festival also hosted the inaugural edition of the international photography festival Cortona On The Move in AlJadidah. As part of the event 18 artist showcased their works. Cortona On The Move, is an international festival of photography held in Cortona, a town in Italy and was conceived in 2011 and is now in its 12th edition. It has firmly established itself as a global point of reference for photography.