The connector was Los Angeles–based artist, collector, and Saudi royal Sultan Bin Fahad, whose work “Desert Kite” appears in this year’s show. Susan Davis, founder and president of Desert X, says the Saudi iteration came about through person-to-person diplomacy, rather than any international intrigue. Thanks to enthusiastic offerings of sweetheart deals with international companies, there is now more foreign capital in Saudi than Dubai. While Yemeni frankincense was once the hot commodity, it’s now arms dealing and proxy wars - sponsored by a variety of regional players as well as by the same nations that are home to some of the most vociferous critics of the Saudi regime. I came here in February to attend the second iteration Desert X AlUla, which links the Coachella Valley with Saudi Arabian deserts through site-specific installations by 15 artists incorporating the themes of “mirage” and “oasis.” Controversial in the Coachella Valley because of its alleged elitist art washing and financing by a regime with a record of human rights abuses, it is a crucible of art and commerce, politics and culture, internationalism, and selective moral outrage. And a five-year memorandum was signed in November 2021 between the Royal Commission of AlUla (RCU) and UNESCO for a “strategic cross-cultural partnership” for the development of the culturally significant Saudi Arabian province that includes the Nabatean ruins of Hegra, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008. It currently features a survey of Saudi art called What Lies Within from the private collection of Basma al Sulaiman, the Saudi royal and patron of the arts like Desert X, it is part of the AlUla Arts Festival. Recent milestones include the opening of the Maraya gallery, a giant cube of mirrored glass shimmering in the sand as if transported by some benevolent aesthete genie with a penchant for monumental architectural gestures. The latest initiatives - such as the Diryah Biennale and public art commissions in Riyadh, the opening of the Haay Jameel complex of independent galleries and studios in Jeddah, and the Jeddah edition of Bienal del Sur - were born of the impetus of Saudi’s Vision 2030 plan to modernize and develop the nation.ĪlUla, a 2,000-year-old archaeological and historical site, has become a hot spot for artists and collectors. A prolific number of projects, timed with the easing of visa restrictions, is helping to end decades of cultural isolation. The contemporary art scene in Saudi - a part of the nationalist project since its midcentury origins - is having a moment. Not on my way to Mecca, but on the new art world trail that now rivals the old incense routes to Yemen that traders traveled in Nabatean times. I came to AlUla, Saudi Arabia’s ancient desert region, like a pilgrim.
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