Desert X AlUla third edition of the International art exhibition will open 9 February – 23 March 2024 under the theme of ‘In The Presence Of Absence’, artists will Explore that which cannot be seen.
Open to all, Desert X AlUla is a recurring and temporary, site-responsive, international open-air art exhibition taking place in AlUla, a globally significant ancient desert region in the Arabian Peninsula. Desert X AlUla takes place as a highlight of the AlUla Arts Festival. Raneem Farsi and Neville Wakefield will return as this year’s artistic directors and the exhibition will be curated by Maya El Khalil and Marcello Dantas. El Khalil is a renowned art advisor and curator with a focus on the MENA region. Dantas is an award-winning curator known for innovative interdisciplinary practices linking science, history and technology to create engaging and participatory exhibition experiences.
Following two exhibitions since 2020, Desert X AlUla returns for its third edition from 9 February – 23 March 2024, placing visionary contemporary artworks by Saudi and international artists amidst the extraordinary desert landscape of AlUla, a majestic region in north-west Saudi Arabia of natural and creative heritage steeped in a legacy of cross-cultural exchange.
Under the theme of In the Presence of Absence, Desert X AlUla 2024 asks ‘what cannot be seen?’ Often dismissed as spaces of emptiness, deserts are rendered mute, static, but there is much more than meets the eye. Artists taking part in Desert X AlUla 2024 have been invited to explore ideas of the unseen and the inexpressible. Encouraged to engage with what is not immediately apparent, they stage new encounters with the landscape, imagining alternative perspectives that appreciate the imperceptible forces and atmospheres of time, wind, light, the flows of history and myths woven into the place.
