The fifth edition of AlUla Arts launched over the weekend in the oasis of AlUla, welcoming visitors from around the globe. The valleys, palm groves and AlJadidah Arts District are transformed into a vibrant celebration of art, creativity and human connection.
Running from 16 January to 14 February 2026, the festival invites audiences to experience a diverse programme of contemporary art, design, music, performance and cultural exchange set against the unique landscapes and heritage of northwest Saudi Arabia.
This year’s edition of the AlUla Arts Festival showcases the biggest programme yet. Programmes include the highly anticipated return of Desert X AlUla for its fourth iteration, and the festival’s most extensive design programme to date at Design Space AlUla, and dance, photography, music and film at AlJadidah Arts District and Villa Hegra.
Additionally, visitors can still expect the opening of “Arduna” on 1st February, the groundbreaking exhibition developed by the upcoming contemporary art museum in AlUla, in collaboration with Centre Pompidou.
As part of the opening weekend, visitors enjoyed tours of the site-responsive earthworks, sculptures, and installations at Desert X AlUla 2026, including spectacular artist performances by Hector Zamora, Maria Magdelena Campos Pons and Kamaal Malak, setting the scene for an unforgettable festival month. Together, the works demonstrated the power of monumental art situated in the unique cultural and natural landscapes of AlUla.
Guests also flocked to the bustling AlJadidah Arts District to explore Design Space AlUla, Madrasat Addeera, Villa Hegra, ATHR Gallery, and more. The streets were alive with art, culture and conversation, as the festivities revitalised every corner of the arts district.
Visitors enjoyed an immersive introduction to AlUla’s growing role as a hub for creativity and cultural innovation at Design Space AlUla, where the Material Witness: Celebrating Design From Within exhibition presented works produced by the AlUla Artists Residency Programme, AlUla Design Award 2025 and AlUla’s first school for arts and design, Madrasat Addeera.
The festival programme also includes a rich public programme of live music, immersive performances, workshops, tours and film screenings that will animate the AlJadidah Arts District, AlUla Oasis and other sites across the festival footprint.
Below is a preview of what to expect at AlUla Arts Festival 2025:
EXHIBITIONS
Desert X AlUla 2026 (16 January to 28 February)
Presented in collaboration with Desert X Coachella Valley, Desert X AlUla runs from 16 January to 28 February under the theme Space Without Measure, inspired by Lebanese-American poet Kahlil Gibran. Curated by Wejdan Reda and Zoé Whitley, with Artistic Directors Neville Wakefield and Raneem Farsi, this landmark outdoor exhibition showcases 11 new site-responsive commissions engaging directly with AlUla’s desert canyons, oases and valleys.
The participating artists are: Sara Abdu, Mohammad AlFaraj, Mohammed AlSaleem, Tarek Atoui, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Bahraini-Danish, Agnes Denes, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Basmah Felemban, Vibha Galhotra, and Héctor Zamora.
Their works range from large-scale sculpture to immersive sound and light installations, each using AlUla’s landscapes to explore ideas of place, memory, nature and coexistence.
Artwork by Mohammed Al Saleem displayed at Desert X AlUla 2026 is on loan from the Riyadh Art collection, The Royal Commission for Riyadh City.
Design Space AlUla – Material Witness: Celebrating Design From Within (16 January to 28 February)
Running from 16 January to 28 February, the Material Witness: Celebrating Design From Within exhibition features prototypes from the AlUla Artist Residency – Design Edition 2025, winning projects from the AlUla Design Award 2025, and selected outcomes from the inaugural AlUla Designathon.
Curated by Dominique Petit-Frère with Assistant Curator Majda Aldulaijan, the showcase highlights innovation, material exploration and craft traditions, with works by Altin Studio, Aseel Alamoudi, Ori Orisun Merhav, Paul Moustapha Ledron, and Studio ThusThat, alongside projects from local and international designers.
Other exhibitions opening during the festival include: Sara Abdu “Intimate Architecture of Belonging” at ATHR Gallery (January to February); Reflections, an exhibition presented by the British Council in KSA (16 January to 14 February) showcasing installations which were awarded grants for cultural initiatives in AlUla.
Ongoing programmes are underway at Madrasat Addeera, where workshops and installations connect audiences with AlUla’s living craft traditions. In parallel, a complementary exhibition art-directed by Curator Raghad Rumaysh is presented in the Madrasat Addeera stores. The exhibition explores traditional arts, design methodologies, and the sources of inspiration behind the collections showcased in the space.
Villa Hegra – Not Deserted: AlUla’s Archives in Movement (16 January to 14 February)
Set within AlUla’s first Saudi–French cultural foundation, Villa Hegra presents Not Deserted: AlUla’s Archives in Movement, a photography exhibition tracing the evolving narratives of the desert through image and film. Early 20th-century photographs by Tony André are shown in dialogue with cinematic works by Saudi filmmaker and Villa Hegra resident Saad Tahaitah, developed during a dedicated film residency. Together, these works form a living archive that reframes AlUla as a place defined by movement and transformation, where wind and water continually redraw the landscape and re-shape memory. Evoking the desert’s role as both transmitter of knowledge and site of imagination, the exhibition invites reflection on the interplay between history, environment and the cultural identity of AlUla.
Arduna (1 February to 15 April)
Running from 1 February to 15 April 2026, Arduna, meaning ‘Our land’, will present more than 80 artworks from Saudi, MENA and international artists, co-curated by the contemporary art museum in AlUla and Centre Pompidou, with the support of AFALULA. Organised into six thematic chapters, the exhibition will explore humanity’s evolving relationship with nature and land, addressing climate change, displacement and the Anthropocene. Highlights include works by Pablo Picasso, Joan Mitchell, David Hockney, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Manal AlDowayan, Etel Adnan, and Tavares Strachan, alongside new commissions by Saudi and international artists.
PERFORMANCES
Immersive performances punctuate the festival calendar, including:
- Vertigo, a site-specific aerial performance by Villa Hegra. Vertigo was a collaboration between choreographer Rachid Ouramdane, French highliner Nathan Paulin, and the AlUla community, staged in the desert canyons of AlUla and was a highlight of the opening weekend of AlUla Arts Festival 2026.
- Live music sessions in partnership with AlUla Music Hub, featuring artists such as ABØD and Ibrahim Najada, plus Saturday Jam sessions animated by AlUla Music Hub musicians.
Public art performances, talks and demonstrations by commissioned artists will also be held across festival weekends, offering audiences direct insight into creative processes.
PUBLIC PROGRAMME
A wide-ranging public programme runs throughout the festival:
- Workshops for adults, families and children at Desert X AlUla (including artist-led sessions such as Unthought Making by Bahraini-Danish) and at Madrasat Addeera, covering traditional techniques from stone carving to natural dyeing and palm weaving.
- Cinema AlJadidah: open-air screenings of art-themed documentaries, shorts and feature films curated for the festival.
- Special tours and art hikes led by trained guides, connecting Desert X AlUla with exhibitions in Arduna and AlJadidah Arts District.
- Music nights such as Sharqiyyat Night and Fusion Night: Between Orient and Occident at AlUla Music Hub.
For more information, visit experiencealula.com
