AlUla’s rich cultural heritage beckons travelers from far and wide
Geological diversity, inscriptions and rock carvings are attractions
Hegra, the UNESCO World Heritage site, features Nabatean tombs
Updated 26 August 2024
Arab News
JEDDAH: Culture is a fundamental component of the tourism offering in AlUla, which is situated in the Kingdom’s northwest, the Saudi Press Agency reported recently.
Every visitor to AlUla is eager to learn about the region’s ancient heritage, reflected in its rich history spanning thousands of years. This makes it a bucket-list destination for history and travel enthusiasts.
AlUla is centered around an ancient town that emerged in the 12th century, featuring around 900 houses built from mud bricks, the SPA reported.
In the past, trade caravans laden with incense passed nearby, overlooking palm oases with around 3 million trees.
A towering fortress, standing 45 meters tall, was constructed within it, serving as a watchtower and defensive fortification for the town’s wall, which included 14 gates, the report explained.
The town now has several local shops, restaurants and cafes, providing a retreat for families and tourists from various countries.
The old town of AlUla was selected as one of the best tourist villages in the world by the World Tourism Organization in 2022, among 32 from around the globe, for meeting all the selection criteria.
AlUla offers its visitors numerous tourism options. Amidst its natural landscape distinguished by geological diversity and stunning rock formations, visitors can experience desert trips, camping, stargazing in its clear skies, nature reserves, and mountain climbing.
Jabal Ikmah is one of the most prominent historical sites in AlUla, popularly dubbed “the largest open-air library” in the Arabian Peninsula due to its hundreds of ancient inscriptions and rock carvings.
At the same time, visitors can explore historical and archaeological sites, most notably the Hegra area, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Here one can discover Nabatean tombs, various inscriptions, and excavation sites.
Every year, the Royal Commission for AlUla organizes several diverse artistic and cultural events, including the upcoming Winter at Tantora Festival.
The event features traditional sports of horseback archery and tent pegging, as well as exploratory tours, art and cultural exhibitions, including the Ancient Kingdoms Festival, and much more.
New partnership to conserve AlUla’s cultural heritage
National Archives will work with the commission in four broad areas: training and scientific exchange, archival research, public programming, and digitization
Abeer Al-Akel: Our partnership with the National Archives exemplifies the power of international collaboration
Updated 10 September 2024
Arab News
JEDDAH: The Royal Commission for AlUla has signed a partnership agreement with the UK National Archives in line with the commission’s goals of cultural heritage preservation, international collaboration, and contribution to Vision 2030.
Through its expertise in archival management and historical documentation, the National Archives will work with the commission in four broad areas: training and scientific exchange, archival research, public programming, and digitization. Specific initiatives will focus on joint research projects, digital archive initiatives, and cultural exhibitions.
Abeer Al-Akel, acting CEO of the commission, said: “RCU’s campaign of comprehensive regeneration is transforming AlUla into a global hub for heritage and culture — and an extraordinary location for residents and visitors. Our commitment to conservation supports Vision 2030’s goal of promoting Saudi culture through initiatives that are ‘powered by the past, reimagined for the future.’
“Our partnership with the National Archives exemplifies the power of international collaboration, combining expertise and resources from Saudi Arabia and the UK to enhance cultural heritage research and public programming.”
Saul Nasse, chief executive and keeper of the National Archives, said: “Working with the Royal Commission for AlUla is an opportunity to share our pioneering work in documenting and safeguarding heritage. RCU has an ambitious strategy to preserve the rich stories of northwest Arabia, and we look forward to contributing our insights and experience.”
Through this collaboration, RCU and the National Archives aim to enhance the visibility of Saudi documentary heritage and strengthen the capacity of local archives to provide wide access to these invaluable resources, further solidifying AlUla’s position as a global hub for cultural preservation and exploration.
DUBAI: Algerian filmmaker Merzak Allouche’s family dramedy “Front Row,” supported by the Red Sea Fund, screened this week at the 49th Toronto International Film Festival.
Allouche’s 19th feature tells the story of two matriarchs, Zohra Bouderbala and Safia Kadouri, who find themselves in conflict during a day at the beach. Zohra, accompanied by her five children, arrives early to secure a desirable spot, but tension arises when the Kadouri family is placed directly in front of them by a beach attendant.
Riyadh-based UK artist Simon Mortimer delves into Saudi pop culture
Simon Mortimer’s mixed-media works exploring Arabic imagery and language are currently on show in Doha
Updated 06 September 2024
Rebecca Anne Proctor
RIYADH: Inside his apartment in Riyadh, British artist Simon Mortimer experiments with images that explore Saudi Arabia’s current period of transformation. His vibrant creations are filled with references to contemporary Saudi culture through high and low art, with an abundance of Arabic influences.
In one of the artist’s recent works, a realistic painting of a typewriter on light blue, gray and yellow background is encircled by various signs and symbols from everyday Saudi culture, including an evocative Saudi-based multinational Sharbatly fruit label showing a young boy wearing a red hat. At the top of the work is what appears to be a phrase from another advertisement in Arabic, translating to “For those who don’t know.” On the left-hand side of the typewriter, which Mortimer explains represents the idea of communication, is a cartoon-like depiction of a red falcon with its beak nestled ever so slightly on the machine and a small yellow crown over its head.
Simon Mortimer. (Supplied)
Mortimer, currently working in Riyadh as an art teacher, is showing works in a new exhibition at the Media Majlis Museum (mm: museum) at Qatar’s Northwestern University titled “The limits of my language are the limits of my world.” It’s a mixed-media exhibition exploring the Arabic language, its historical and contemporary context and questions surrounding its future existence. It runs until Dec. 5.
Many of Mortimer’s recent works incorporate Arabic writing and the imagery he selects is often repeated throughout his works (the falcon, the Sharbatly logo, coffee pots, and more). He doesn’t speak Arabic, but he says he is “fascinated by the forms of the letters, the culture and the language” and likes to use words with meanings that reflect the subject matter of his pieces.
“I love to explore the popular culture of a place,” he tells Arab News. “You immediately see these interesting images, logos and adverts. I love the visuals and the aesthetics, and I often don’t understand what they mean, especially when the labels are in Arabic, so I go onto Google Translate to get a better sense of the meaning.”
'Learn' by Simon Mortimer. (Supplied)
Mortimer moved to Riyadh around a year ago from Doha, where he lived for five years. In the Qatari capital he was an artist-in-residence at the Fire Station, one of Qatar’s leading contemporary art spaces. He has lived in a number of other countries, including the Philippines, Greece and Spain, and has exhibited his work in the UK, Greece, Indonesia, the Philippines and Qatar.
“I love being a foreigner,” he says. “I love living in different countries and exploring local popular culture. It is interesting whatever country I am in,” explains Mortimer. “Everyday images are combined with text, and the ambiguity that this can lead to reflects the misunderstandings that sometimes arise when living in, or learning about, other countries and cultures.
'No Limits' triptych by Simon Mortimer. (Supplied)
“I enjoy layering and creating texture with a wide range of media, as well as challenging the concept of ‘high’ and ‘low’ art; traditional ways of mark-making such as oil paint and etching are brought together in the same artwork with modern media such as spray paint and marker pen,” he continues.
Mortimer’s creative process involves literal and metaphorical layers. He incorporates images and references from Saudi pop-culture, as well as Arabic script, and then merges them in a mixture of traditional oil painting, acrylic, stencils, photocopies, and spray paint. In essence, Mortimer’s works offer the reflections of a non-Arab on present-day Saudi society, as well as his desire to better understand Saudi contemporary culture.
'Right to Left' by Simon Mortimer. (Supplied)
The new exhibition in Doha invites visitors to explore and celebrate Arabic’s rich history and influence of the Arabic language and to reflect on its place in the future. It revolves around four key themes: “Always another side?” which introduces Arabic and its complexities, challenging negative connotations of the language through beautiful representations; “An influential and powerful language?” exploring how Arabic has shaped politics, science, religion and culture worldwide; “Does media representation matter?” examining the portrayal of Arabic in the media; and the final theme: “Is Arabic a language of the future?” exploring efforts to preserve and protect the language in a world where the ubiquity and dominance of English — particularly in the digital realm, poses challenges.
Mortimer’s works in the show explore these themes from the viewpoint of a non-Arabic speaker. They incorporate images from contemporary Arabian society — particularly drawing from his recent experiences in Saudi and Qatar — and Arabic proverbs to explore language, multiculturalism, and education from the perspective of a non-speaker.
'Round Puff' by Simon Mortimer. (Supplied)
Incorporating local imagery and language into his work allows Mortimer to immerse himself more fully in local culture — and learn something of the language. He says he also learns from, and is inspired by, the Saudi high school students he is teaching.
“They tell me about the cartoons and the sports they watch and introduce me to popular culture in Saudi and discuss the changes taking place in the Kingdom,” he says. “I’ve learned so much through them.”
Highlights from Ahaad Alamoudi’s ‘Moving Mountains’ at Hayy Jameel
Updated 06 September 2024
Arab News
DUBAI: Here are three highlights from Ahaad Alamoudi’s ‘Moving Mountains,’ which runs until Oct. 26 at Hayy Jameel in Jeddah.
‘Moving Mountains’
The title work from the Saudi artist’s exhibition is a short film that “continues Alamoudi’s expansive exploration of rapidly changing social and cultural environments, situating Saudi’s natural and urban landscapes as sites of possibility — punctured by effort and powered by fantasy,” according to the gallery.
‘What is This?’
The latest iteration of Alamoudi’s ongoing video series that features two talking falcons — which have, the gallery says, “in some ways acted as a temperature check as they react loudly to their changing surroundings” — has them facing away from each other on back-to-back screens exclaiming “I don’t remember this being here,” and “Do you see what I see?”
“I Was Told Ice Wouldn’t Melt in Heat”
In this video, a detail of which is shown here, a man in a white thobe circles a large block of ice in the desert for four hours trying various ways to prevent it from melting in the blazing heat. “Although driven by a delusional belief in what he was told, the feat ultimately proves impossible,” the gallery caption states.
Saudi-supported Egyptian film wins big at Venice Film Festival’s Final Cut
Updated 05 September 2024
Arab News
DUBAI: The Red Sea Film Foundation-supported film “Aisha Can’t Fly Away,” the feature debut of Egyptian filmmaker Morad Mostafa, became the first Egyptian film to win the La Biennale di Venezia Prize at Final Cut in Venice on Wednesday.
The award, given for a film in post-production, is worth €5,000 ($5,546).
The film, which got a total of five awards during the festival, tells the story of a Somali woman caring for her elderly parents in Cairo while witnessing the tensions between the different ethnic groups who make up the city’s society.
This year’s jury included Wayne Borg from NEOM, Monica Ciarli from Minerva Pictures, and Dennis Ruh, the former director of the European Film Market.
In their statement, the jury labeled Mostafa’s story “powerful and authentic,” adding: “Despite being a first feature film, it showcased confident direction and a distinct cinematic voice. The film’s gritty realism, attention to detail, and impactful storytelling left a strong impression on us.”
Three other films supported by Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Foundation also won awards at Final Cut: Egyptian filmmaker Mohamed Siam’s “My Father’s Scent,” Lebanese director Nadim Tabet’s “In This Darkness I See You” and Mosotho screenwriter and film director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s “Ancestral Visions of the Future.”
Final Cut in Venice offers filmmakers a platform to showcase their works-in-progress to global industry experts, helping with post-production support and market entry.
