The Contemporary Art Museum in AlUla, in partnership with Centre Pompidou, will present Arduna from February 1 to April 15, 2026, as part of the fifth AlUla Arts Festival. Organized by Arts AlUla with support from the French Agency for AlUla Development (AFALULA), the exhibition represents a significant milestone ahead of the museum’s official opening.
AlUla’s Cultural Landscape
Arduna offers an early insight into the curatorial direction of the Contemporary Art Museum in AlUla, conceived as a global institution shaped by the region’s extraordinary natural environment and cultural heritage. The exhibition brings together works from the Royal Commission for AlUla’s expanding collection alongside key pieces from the Musée National d’Art Moderne at Centre Pompidou. Additionally, it is curated by Candida Pestana, with associate curators Ftoon AlThaedi, Anna Hiddleston, and Noémie Fillon.
Drawing inspiration from AlUla’s historic role as a lush oasis along the ancient Incense Trade Routes, the exhibition adopts the garden as its central metaphor. Across six thematic chapters, Arduna explores real and imagined landscapes—from cultivated gardens to deserts and cosmic spaces—tracing humanity’s shifting relationship with nature. The exhibition also engages with urgent global concerns, including climate change, urbanization, displacement, and the realities of the Anthropocene.
Cultural Exchange
Featuring more than 80 works across diverse media, Arduna brings together iconic modern artists such as Pablo Picasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Joan Mitchell, and David Hockney, alongside leading contemporary voices including Manal AlDowayan, Ayman Zedani, Imran Qureshi, Samia Halaby, Etel Adnan, and others from Saudi Arabia, the region, and the wider world. The exhibition also presents newly commissioned works by Ayman Zedani and Tarek Atoui, developed through the AlUla Artists Residency Program, underscoring the museum’s commitment to artistic innovation, community engagement, and cross-cultural dialogue.
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