Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia announces two new major museums as part of AlUla heritage site

An institution for contemporary art and another dedicated to the incense trade route are the first "cultural assets” launched as part of the region's 15-year plan

Centre Pompidou to open contemporary art museum in Saudi Arabia

The Paris institution's latest outpost is part of drive to rebrand the Middle Eastern state

Does the West really care about human rights and art washing?

As the art world continues to do business in authoritarian regions, some question its claim to being a force for universal good

In pictures: Inside the mirror-clad desert venue hosting Saudi Arabia’s first Warhol show

Exhibition makes comparisons between artist's obsession with fame and contemporary society’s all-consuming social media usage

France makes art inroads in Saudi Arabia with Centre Pompidou project allegedly on the horizon

The outpost would be the gallery's latest international satellite and the latest of many France-driven arts initiative in the Middle Eastern country

Heritage protection foundation Aliph expands with office in Saudi Arabia

The Geneva-based International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas is to open a second office in 2023 in Riyadh

Can art actually help improve Saudi Arabia's abject human rights record?

Culture is being used by Saudi Arabia to project an image of a state that “enriches lives, celebrates national identity and builds understanding between people”

Andy Warhol exhibition to be staged in the Saudi Arabian desert

The show—described as an "introduction" for many in the region to the late gay artist—is being organised by the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh

Revealed: the first photograph of the Louvre's Leonardo book that was spiked over Salvator Mundi fiasco

The story of the "Léonard de Vinci. Le Salvator Mundi" publication that was withdrawn from sale

Saudi Arabia reportedly building gallery to house Leonardo's Salvator Mundi

The painting has not been seen in public since it was allegedly bought by the Saudi Crown Prince for $450m in 2017—but the art historian Martin Kemp suggests it may soon be brought "into the light"

Artist and poet Ashraf Fayadh is freed after more than eight years in Saudi prisons

A religious court sentenced him to death for blasphemy in 2015. Saudi artist Ahmed Mater says times have changed and this would be unlikely to happen today

Exhibition traces the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad in unprecedented detail

Show about the Hijrah—Muhammad's journey from Mecca to Medina—at Saudi Arabia’s Ithra Museum will go on a five-year world tour

Artists and writers call on Joe Biden to denounce Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses in meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed

The US president will travel to the oil-rich nation he once labelled a “pariah” and meet with its leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

From Whitechapel to Saudi Arabia: Iwona Blazwick takes up a new post as AlUla public art supremo

Drive to rebrand Middle Eastern country as a cultural destination underpinned by human rights concerns

teamLab pushes on with plans for major new digital art museum in Saudi Arabia

Tokyo-based technology art organisation attends groundbreaking ceremony in Jeddah

Saudi Arabian pavilion: Exhibition rings the changes

Choice of artist Muhannad Shono for the national pavilion is a sign itself of the country’s social and political shift

British museums including Tate and V&A not part of UK government's new Saudi culture deal

The partnership, signed in February, will focus on collaborations in the film, museum and heritage sectors between the two nations

Saudi Arabiainterview

Making works in the wilderness: artists of Desert X AlUla explain how they took on the testing terrain

On the occasion of the Saudi outdoor art exhibition's opening, four artists—Zeinab Alhashemi, Dana Awartani, Shezad Dawood and Stephanie Deumer—discuss their projects in the desert

'Aggressive, emotional, darkly humorous’: Louise Bourgeois’s closest collaborator on her late works

Plus, Desert X opens second Saudi Arabia edition and Gerhard Richter's 90th birthday exhibition in Dresden

Sponsored byChristie's

Accessible to all or elitist artwashing? Desert X opens second Saudi Arabia edition

The open air exhibition in the ancient heritage region AlUla spearheads the Middle Eastern nation's attempt at rapid cultural transformation in line with government's 2030 goals

UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries signs arts agreement with Saudi Arabia

Ceremony signing a memorandum of understanding took place at the Diriyah Biennale in Riyadh

Saudi Arabia's cultural scene is in a moment of decisive shift

The inaugural Diriyah Biennale and the opening of Hayy Jameel are the latest in a series of initiatives helping the kingdom emerge from artistic isolation

Macron's Gulf tour: UAE's Louvre Abu Dhabi contract extended to 2047 and more French-Saudi culture deals

Renewal of Abu Dhabi deal means the Louvre can partner with the network of museums planned for Saudi Arabia's AlUla region

Saudi Arabia's Desert X AlUla biennial returns for second edition next spring

In a new location in the desert complex, the exhibition will explore ideas of “mirage and oasis”

More refugees to be trained as tour guides at Oxford University museums after £1m gift from Saudi foundation

Funding from Alwaleed Philanthropies will support Multaka project working with 200 refugees and asylum seekers over the next five years

Al-Ulanews

Unesco strikes partnership deal with Saudi agency to develop AlUla region's rich heritage

Agreement covers developing archaeological programmes and paves the way for kingdom's ambitious long-term plans to attract tourists to the region

Artists announced for Saudi Arabia's contemporary art biennial

Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale is part of a drive to promote the cultural credentials of the middle Eastern kingdom