

Through job creation, skills development and engagement with local creatives, Wadi AlFann will strengthen AlUla’s cultural economy, inspiring a new generation of arts professionals and enhancing quality of life for its residents. Wadi AlFann will provide unparalleled opportunities for local communities to experience art as a source of education and enrichment. The works will be created with respect for the landscape, set against the stunning sandstone cliffs and canyons of the vast terrain. Learning from the desert, the artists are responding to the landscape of AlUla, taking inspiration from its dramatic topography, undulating vistas, remarkable geological structures and complex natural ecosystem. Wadi AlFann will offer a profound opportunity to experience art in dialogue with nature. Juxtaposed with historic traces of ancient desert communities, this unprecedented, ambitious and visionary showcase of contemporary artworks will continue growing in years to come, adding to the legacy of this millennia-old location. These initial five works will be completed and unveiled by 2024, marking the start of a continued programme of commissions, with more artists and activities to be announced.Ĭreated by some of the world’s most renowned pioneers of land art and artists at the forefront of contemporary practice, the concepts, vision and epic scale of Wadi AlFann’s cross-generational commissions mark a new chapter in art history. 1943, USA) will be the first five works to be conceived for Wadi AlFann, a spectacular valley spanning approximately 65 square kilometres. 1979, Saudi Arabia) and James Turrell (b. New, large-scale, site-specific commissions by Manal AlDowayan (b. A render of Ashab Al-Lal by Ahmed Mater at Wadi AlFann, AlUlaĪlUla, Monday 27 June 2022 – The Royal Commission for AlUla reveals plans for Wadi AlFann, meaning ‘Valley of the Arts’, an awe-inspiring new global cultural destination for contemporary art, where era-defining works by some of the most compelling artists from around the world will be permanently placed in the monumental landscape of AlUla, the extraordinary desert region of north-west Saudi Arabia steeped in thousands of years of natural, historical and cultural heritage.
