desert X 2026 opens with artworks that harmonize with alUla’s valleys and canyons

Desert X returns to AlUla, Saudi Arabia

Desert X AlUla 2026 returns to northwest Saudi Arabia with a fourth edition that scatters contemporary art across within the valleys, canyons, and oases of AlUla. Presented by Arts AlUla in collaboration with Desert X, the exhibition runs from January 16th to February 28th, 2026 as part of the AlUla Arts Festival. It brings new site-responsive sculptural commissions into conversation with the scenic desert.

The curatorial theme, Space Without Measure, shapes an edition that attends closely to scale, distance, and perception across a vast landscape. Works are positioned across Wadi AlFann and the surrounding oasis zones, where shifts in light and wind are a part of the experience. Desert X AlUla 2026 approaches the site as an active participant, asking visitors to move slowly and read materials in relation to desert and sky.

Agnes Denes, The Living Pyramid, Desert X AlUla 2026, image courtesy Lance Gerber

site-responsive artworks scatter across the desert

Sustainable production methods inform Desert X AlUla 2026 at every level. Rammed earth, carved stone, and locally sourced wood appear across multiple projects, produced in Saudi Arabia through collaborations with regional artisans and cultural centers.

Partnerships with the locally-based arts and design center Madrasat Addeera and the AlUla Music Hub extend this emphasis on local knowledge, while consultation with the AlUla Native Plant Nursery guides the integration of plantlife into the ‘oasis’ environment.

The exhibition is co-curated by Wejdan Reda and Zoé Whitley, with artistic direction led by Neville Wakefield and Raneem Farsi. Their approach favors works that respond to specific conditions of AlUla, from ancient water routes to cultivated palm groves.

Bahraini-Danish, Desert X AlUla 2026, image courtesy Lance Gerber

eleven participating artists for 2026

Among the Saudi artists participating in Desert X AlUla 2026, Budapest-born artist Agnes Denes contributes The Living Pyramid, a planted structure situated within the oasis. Continuing a project developed across multiple geographies, the work emphasizes cycles of growth and regeneration through its changing surface. 

Sound plays a central role in several commissions. The collective practice Bahraini-Danish introduces Bloom, a kinetic sculpture animated by sunlight and shadow. Its rotating elements register the passage of time across the day, producing a shifting visual rhythm that aligns with the desert’s cycles. Participation remains gentle and open-ended, inviting viewers to linger rather than perform.

Basmah Felemban’s Murmur of Pebbles enlarges geological fragments into carved limestone forms. Installed along pathways shaped by ancient rivers, the work draws attention to sediment, erosion, and time embedded within stone. Originally commissioned for a previous edition, the installation returns with renewed emphasis on scale and spacing under the current curatorial framework.

Basmah Felemban, Desert X AlUla 2026, image courtesy Lance Gerber

In a nearby valley, Héctor Zamora’s Tar HyPar introduces percussion-inspired forms that respond to collective movement. Visitors activate the installation through sound, producing a low, resonant energy that travels across open ground.

Ibrahim El-Salahi’s Haraza Tree responds to acacia species found across the region, translating their resilience into sculptural forms that gather individually while standing as a unified artwork.

Mohammad Alfaraj contributes What was the Question Again?, a living installation centered on a palm structure assembled from grafted trunks. Referencing the agricultural landscapes of Al Ahsa, the piece reflects long-standing relationships between cultivation, storytelling, and renewal.

Héctor Zamora, Tar HyPar, Desert X AlUla 2026, image courtesy Lance Gerber

Sara Abdu presents A Kingdom Where No One Dies: Contours of Resonance, a sculptural installation formed through layered rammed earth walls. Poetry and geology intersect within its surfaces, drawing attention to construction techniques shared across cultures and eras. The work reads through touch and proximity, its mass tempered by subtle shifts in tone and texture.

Future Fables by Vibha Galhotra encloses fragments of demolished buildings within a steel framework. The structure shelters traces of recent change, transforming debris into a place for reflection and shared narratives.

Several works in Desert X AlUla 2026 engage directly with ecological systems. Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons shows Imole Red, an installation inspired by AlUla’s sunsets and Yoruba spiritual traditions. Color and planting combine within a garden-like structure that acknowledges water as a sustaining presence within the valley. The work carries a sense of continuity between land, ritual, and care.

Ibrahim El-Salahi, Desert X AlUla 2026, image courtesy Lance Gerber

Lebanese artist and composer Tarek Atoui presents The Water Song, continuing his research into listening practices initiated during the AlUla Arts Festival 2025. Instruments emerge partially from the ground, encouraging visitors to attune to subtle vibrations carried through soil and air. The landscape becomes an acoustic field shaped by movement and attention.

Nearby, rare sculptural works by the late Mohammed AlSaleem appear for the first time, including The Thorn and AlShuruf Unit. Created during the 1980s, these geometric forms extend upward with a measured sense of aspiration, shaped by desert horizons and celestial reference points.

Sara Abdu, Desert X AlUla 2026, image courtesy Lance Gerber

María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Desert X AlUla 2026, image courtesy Lance Gerber

Tarek Atoui, Desert X AlUla 2026, image courtesy Lance Gerber

project info:

event: Desert X | @_desertx

location: AlUla, Saudi Arabia

on view: January 16th to February 28th, 2026

photography: © Lance Gerber | @lance.gerber

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