Desert X AlUla – the international, open-air exhibition of ambitious, site-responsive artworks set within the awe-inspiring landscapes and layered heritage of AlUla – will return for its fourth edition from 16 January to 28 February 2026. This year’s exhibition, curated by Wejdan Reda and Zoé Whitley, is a highlight of the AlUla Arts Festival, an annual celebration that transforms the ancient city of AlUla into a showcase of contemporary art, design and culture.
Neville Wakefield and Raneem Farsi will return as this year’s artistic directors and the 2026 exhibition will be curated by Wejdan Reda and Zoé Whitley. Reda is a leading Saudi curator and founder of Sahaba, with major projects including co-curating the first and second Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale; she currently serves as Curatorial Associate Director at the Diriyah Biennale Foundation. Whitley is an award-winning curator and writer who lives and works in London, UK. Named an honorary recipient of an OBE for Services to Art in 2025, her independent projects span North America, Singapore, Italy (British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2019) and United Arab Emirates (Alserkal public art).
This year’s landmark edition in AlUla invites visitors to explore artworks in the landscape by multigenerational Saudi and international artists, each responding to the desert and AlUla’s unique natural landscapes.
Under the theme of Space Without Measure, Desert X AlUla 2026 is inspired by the poetic vision of Lebanese American writer Kahlil Gibran. Drawing on his meditations on possibility, perception and the boundless nature of the human spirit, the theme connects to AlUla’s own infinite horizons as a landscape layered with history, memory and imagination.
Through this theme, the temporary artwork installations serve as landmarks for reflection and connection, guiding visitors through shared spaces of hope and communion. From immersive environmental visions to newly imagined vistas, each artwork invites visitors to wander through a different facet of the AlUla’s nature and history in ways that are both subtle and transformative.
Since its inaugural edition in 2020, Desert X AlUla has steadily built a rich legacy of site-responsive artworks that respond to the desert’s extraordinary landscapes and produced +45 artwork projects for AlUla.
Across its editions, Desert X AlUla has become an influential platform for both Saudi and international artists, contributing to the evolving artistic heritage of AlUla and the wider region. Artists participating in Desert X AlUla 2026 will be announced over the coming weeks.
Hamad Alhomiedan, Director of Arts & Creative Industries at the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), said: “Desert X AlUla is one of the most anticipated moments of the AlUla Arts Festival, reflecting AlUla’s history as a global meeting place for creativity and cultural exchange. Bringing together exceptional artists from Saudi Arabia and around the world, the new installations will spark powerful dialogues between nature, heritage, and imagination. Now in its fourth year, Desert X AlUla has realised more than 45 commissions in Saudi Arabia, some of which still stand today in the landscapes of AlUla, as much a part of the landscape as the environment on which they inhabit. For us at Arts AlUla, this partnership serves as a glimpse of what is to come, a prelude to Wadi AlFann which means Valley of the Arts, our forthcoming global cultural destination for land art. It will be our generation’s legacy, communicating the story of this landscape to future civilisations, and connecting creativity, community and the desert’s timeless story on the international stage.”
Wejdan Reda, Co-Curator, Desert X AlUla 2026, said: “AlUla’s landscape is a living archive of stories, traditions and encounters that span centuries. For this edition of Desert X AlUla 2026, artists have engaged with its valleys and historic routes to create works that honour its landscape while opening new spaces for imagination. Inspired by the poetic vision of Kahlil Gibran, ‘Space Without Measure’ asks us to contemplate the boundless creativity that emerges when art responds to place. Each commission invites visitors to discover AlUla through fresh perspectives and moments of reflection shaped by its land, light, and history.”
Zoé Whitley, Co-Curator, Desert X AlUla 2026, said: “Desert X AlUla is such an expansive context for artists’ ideas to be realised, true to poet Khalil Gibran’s observation that dreams are ‘time limitless’ and provide ‘space without measure.’ A stone’s throw from a UNESCO World Heritage site, vast history meets the contemporary moment. It’s been a remarkable collaborative process to see how the artworks were each conceived, inspired by and in harmony with the surrounding landscape.”
Desert X AlUla has played a pivotal role in paving the way for the development of Wadi AlFann; a land art destination in AlUla unveiling from 2028. Wadi AlFann, a 65 square kilometre open-air museum set to become a global cultural destination for monumental site-specific, permanent land art. Marking a major milestone in the ambitious revitalisation of artistic legacy in AlUla, Wadi AlFann will open a new chapter in art history, expanding and continuing for years to come. Both Desert X AlUla and Wadi AlFann underpin Art AlUla’s vision for AlUla to become a leading destination for art in the landscape.
Visitors to Desert X AlUla 2026 will journey through AlUla’s diverse landscapes, experiencing each work within its own distinctive setting. The upcoming edition will be presented across a number of remarkable locations, including the desert canyons that will be the home of AlUla’s permanent Wadi AlFann, Valley of the Arts. Each location is chosen for its unique environment, facilitating compelling dialogues between the artworks and AlUla’s natural and cultural heritage. Desert X AlUla 2026 is a ticketed event presented in collaboration between Desert X and Arts AlUla, established to foster new cultural dialogues through contemporary art.
From its first edition in 2020, Desert X AlUla was the first public art biennale in the region and established itself as a platform for artists to work within the landscape. Building on the legacy of Desert X in California’s Coachella Valley, which recently announced its 10th anniversary edition, the exhibition draws on the principles of land art to offer visitors a profound opportunity to experience art in direct conversation with nature. At the heart of Saudi Arabia’s growing arts landscape, AlUla is both a living museum of human history and a vibrant hub for contemporary creativity. Through Arts AlUla, RCU is committed to reviving the region’s rich artistic legacy, creating opportunities for the local community to engage with art as a source of inspiration, education, and enrichment from skills development and job creation to cultural exchange and international collaboration.
Press release from Desert X AlUla
Image: Giuseppe Penone. Metamorphosis – The Logic of the Vegetal at Desert X AlUla 2024. Image courtesy of The Royal Commission of AlUla and Lance Gerber
