The AlUla Arts Festival 2023 in Saudi Arabia
The AlUla Arts Festival 2023 will return for its 2nd edition from February 16th to February 28th, 2023, with an extensive program of events, exhibitions, artistic performances, and creative activities, including the first ever Andy Warhol exhibition in Saudi Arabia and a much-anticipated concert by Alicia Keys.
Iranart: What is AlUla Arts Festival?
AlUla Arts Festival was launched in 2022 as part of the AlUla Moments Calendar. This arts festival exhibits curated contemporary art and large-scale art installations throughout the historical landscape of AlUla, merging traditional heritage with modern art and culture. The festival also includes talks, workshops, and guided hikes that give art lovers an opportunity to expand their artistic knowledge and skillset.
Festival Theme: ‘Living in Colour’
This year’s festival theme ‘Living in Colour’ will involve imbuing the unique landscape of AlUla with vibrant and colourful art installations and exhibitions. Different kinds of art will enhance the landscape, which will allow visitors to envision and experience AlUla through a polychromic lens.Here are some key events and places of the AlUla Arts Festival 2023 you do not want to miss:
FAME: Andy Warhol in AlUla
A preview of the exhibition will be launched at FAME: 13 Most Beautiful Performance and Exhibition Preview on February 16th. The Andy Warhol Museum will present large-scale projections of Warhol’s silent films paired with a live performance of the American rock duo Dean and Britta, which will be followed by the preview of FAME: Andy Warhol in AlUla.
This flagship exhibition is the first collaboration of the Kingdom with the Andy Warhol Museum of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and it is curated by Museum Director Patrick Moore. The exhibition will feature Warhol’s famous paintings and prints of Hollywood celebrities such as Mohammed Ali at the award-winning Maraya venue. The exhibition will also display Warhol’s fascinating installation Silver Clouds.
This exhibition will display the 100 best Arabic Posters from a competition, which received 2500 submissions. The competition is held every two years and these posters are from the 2020-2021 competition, therefore they constitute the best of the contemporary visual culture of the Arab world.
Art in the Landscape Guided Hikes
These guided hikes will be launched at the AlUla Arts Festival and will allow visitors to hike through the beautiful landscape of Wadi Al Fann and see various art installations for six hours. These installations are from globally renowned artists James Turrell, Agnes Denes, and Michael Heizer, while the landscape will also feature works of regional artists such as Manal Al Dowayan and Ahmed Mater.
Living in Colour Art Tours
These art tours are led by Arts AlUla’s famous Hakat Al Fann through the Art Square of the Art District where various commissioned public art pieces will be displayed. The artworks will also include murals by artist eLSeed, and the famous hand painted urban carpet in Al Jadidah. Tours will be provided in Arabic and English.
The Resonant Shell
This is an artistic structure created by artists Nathalie Harb and Youmna Saba. The structure is designed as a tower in which visitors climb a spiral staircase while meditating to acoustic sounds playing within the structure that are drawn from AlUla’s deserts.
Fringe: Performing Arts Festival
This event will include street performances on the Incense Road from local and international artists. The performances will include acrobatics, buskers, street theatre, musical groups, and much more.
Madrasat Addeera Program
This program is offered by The Prince’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts and includes free weekly workshops. These workshops cover various kinds of art spanning from silkscreen printing to creating collaborative 3D geometric structures.
Alicia Keys in AlUla
The 15-time Grammy winner returns to AlUla as part of AlUla Arts Festival. The American singer, songwriter, and pianist will be performing live at Maraya on February 24th and will host the second instalment of the Women to Women discussion at Madrasat Addeera on February 25th.
The AlUla Arts Festival will end on February 28th, but some of these events and workshops will extend the festival timings until May 2023.