Ancient AlUla embraces contemporary mores with Warhol’s art in Saudi Arabia

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

The first Andy Warhol exhibition in Saudi Arabia has opened in the ancient desert city of AlUla, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Titled FAME: Andy Warhol in AlUla (Feb. 17 – May 16), it brings together some of Warhol’s most iconic artworks, as well as rarely seen archival photographs and ephemera. The exhibition focuses on the concept of fame as a key component of the artist’s life and career. On view at Maraya, it is part of Arts AlUla’s expanding visual arts programme. Ranging from major Land Art commissions to artist residencies, the projects herald the establishment of AlUla’s contemporary art museum — a new institution that will feature the most important international and regional artists of the 21st century. The museum, which is still in development, will be based in the Oasis of AlUla. One of the highlights of the annual AlUla Arts Festival (Feb. 16 - 28), the FAME: Andy Warhol in AlUla exhibition is curated by Patrick Moore, director of The Andy Warhol Museum — the internationally renowned American institution that holds the world’s largest collection of the artist’s work.

Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, the place of Warhol’s birth, the Andy Warhol Museum holds the largest collection of Warhol’s artworks and archival materials and is one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the world. The Warhol is one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Captivated by Hollywood glamour, Warhol dreamed of escaping his childhood in industrial Pittsburgh, and being a part of another exclusive world. A major component of his artistic career and some of his most recognised works, are the paintings and prints he made of Hollywood stars, sporting legends and musicians - including Elizabeth Taylor, Muhammad Ali and Dolly Parton.

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The exhibition also highlights Warhol’s ongoing relevance to current audiences, drawing parallels between the artist’s reflections on society then, and contemporary culture today. The show, inter alia, reflects on the alluring but illusory nature of fame and life viewed through a frame - be that artwork, film, photograph, newspaper or social media.

The exhibition includes Warhol’s ground-breaking work Silver Clouds, and the artist’s “screen tests” - filmed portraits of 60s counterculture icons - and a wallpaper designed by him. The artworks are accompanied by archival photographs, including Hollywood publicity photos and Polaroid portraits he made in his studio and later utilised as source material for his paintings and prints. The exhibition is accompanied by a public programme of talks and a series of workshops, as well as masterclasses in screen printing and design offering visitors a unique opportunity to learn about the artist and his practice.

 Portraits by Andy Warhol on view at the exhibition.

Located 1,100 kilometres from Riyadh, in northwest Saudi Arabia, AlUla is a place of natural and human heritage. The vast area, covering 22,561 square kilometres, includes a lush oasis valley, towering sandstone mountains and ancient cultural heritage sites dating back thousands of years, covering the periods when the Lihyan, Dadan and Nabataean kingdoms reigned. The most well-known and recognised site in AlUla is Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. A 52-hectare ancient city, Hegra was the principal southern city of the Nabataean Kingdom and is comprised of more than 100 well-preserved tombs, with elaborate facades cut out of the sandstone outcrops surrounding the walled urban settlement.

The creation of Arts AlUla within The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) is a commitment by the Kingdom to crafting the next chapters in a millennia of artistic creation — celebrating cultural inheritance, presenting the art of contemporary times, and shaping a future propelled by creativity. AlUla has long been a consistent and ever-evolving hub of cultural transfer. It has been a place of passage, a crossroads for trade, and home to successive civilisations who carved, sculpted and inscribed their lives into the landscape.

The work of Arts AlUla seeks to preserve this legacy: fuse the old with the new; the local with the international, keeping the arts central to the spirit of AlUla as a place of pilgrimage to natural and human heritage. Arts AlUla focuses on transferring the talents of the Saudi nation and the local AlUla community into meaningful long-standing social and economic opportunities. It is a key part of the Journey through Time masterplan, bringing together the 15 different landmark destinations for culture, heritage and creativity across AlUla.

The AlUla Arts Festival was inaugurated in 2022 under the banner of AlUla Moments’ calendar of events and festivals and is perhaps set to become a must-do annual event on the global arts scene.The two-week long festival offers visitors curated arts experiences, bringing together exhibitions and encounters created by a diverse array of artistic talents under the direction of Arts AlUla and in celebration of AlUla’s legacy as a cultural crossroads. It showcases a programme of art, culture, history and landscapes as well as exclusive performances and immersive experiences spread across AlUla’s ancient sites and modern day arts precincts and venues. Featuring a mix of talent including local, regional and international artists, performers, curators, collectors and more, AlUla Arts Festival is a revival of AlUla’s creative legacy at the crossroads of time, space and civilisation, making AlUla the eye of a perfect storm, with art and creativity central to an unfolding visitor destination and valued as a key contributor to the AlUla’s character, quality of life and economy.