After eleven weeks of research, design, workshops, visits, and meetings, the first international art residency program in AlUla came to an end on January 14, 2022. The artworks created were unveiled during three days of open studios with dedicated programming, then exhibited at the heart of the oasis until March 31. This experience helps make the region the perfect setting for contemporary design, all while strengthening ties with the local community and on-site experts.

This ambition is the rightful extension of an already powerful artistic identity within this territory of intertwined civilizations, mysterious architecture, and newly discovered sculptural work. In the vast project that is AlUla’s transformation, three programs are directly focused on artistic creation: the design of an Art District, including schools, workshops, residency spaces, and exhibitions; the Perspective Galleries, a future flagship museum of contemporary art; and, finally, the Wadi AlFann, a commission for monumental works installed in the natural valleys a few kilometers from the Old Town.

« This doesn't mean that artists will build the infrastructure; however, they will be involved in the various development projects and inspire them with a creative spirit. »

Jean-François Charnier,

Scientific Director of the French Agency

for AlUla development (Afalula), Head of the Culture

and Heritage Division

The theme of the first art residency program in AlUla sounds like a promise, the promise to bring an oasis that has been isolated for centuries back to life and to shine light on an exceptionally rich history. From the very outset, the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) visualized AlUla as “a destination built by artists.”

For eleven weeks from November 1st, 2021, to January 14, 2022, the “Mabiti” guest house played host to the pioneering designers. Nestled in the very heart of the oasis, with the garden opening onto the palm grove, the six artists, selected from around fifty applicants, were left free to immerse themselves, meet, create, and shape the raw material of AlUla, offering their own artistic interpretation and examining the development project through their practices. Countless visits, workshops, and meetings centered on the preservation and rehabilitation of the site have made them leading players in a new form of symbiosis. A symbiosis between artists and scientists but also with the local community, the artists thereby becoming “mediators” between one and the other, according to Arnaud Morand.

Their names are Rashed AlShashai and Muhannad Shono (Saudi Arabia), Sara Favriau and Laura Sellies (France), the Syrian Talin Hazbar, and the Franco-Algerian Sofiane Si Merabet, both based in the United Arab Emirates. Three men and three women aged 32 to 44, with various approaches, techniques, and backgrounds.

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SAUDI ARABIA

MUHANNAD

SHONO

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