Running from January 21 to March 7 of 2020, coinciding with AlUla’s annual Winter at Tantora music festival, the exhibition will be funded by the government’s Royal Commission for AlUla in an effort to expand tourism and cultural ties with Western countries.
Despite Desert X Founder and President of the Board Susan Davis’ defence of the collaboration as an opportunity for “a new dialogue, one that reaches across boundaries and borders”, not everyone is happy with the project. The organisation’s board of directors lost three of its fourteen members in the form of artist Ed Ruscha, philanthropist and former fashion stylist Tristan Milanovich, and art historian and curator Yael Lipschutz, who have all resigned over the prospect of working with a government known for its human rights abuses.
Lipschutz explained his decision, stating to the L.A. Times, “this isn’t about dialogue among artists, it’s about striking a deal with a national government that has committed a horrific genocide in Yemen, that is completely undemocratic and that has an appalling record of discrimination against the LGBTQ community”.
Desert X AlUla will feature large-scale outdoor pieces in response to the desert’s environs, themed around environmental issues and the region’s culture, ecology and history. Organisers have clarified that they are not expecting any censorship of the artworks. Although the lineup of around 15 artists (half from the Middle East, half from the U.S. and Europe) has not yet been finalised, the following creators have been in discussions with the event’s organisers: previous Desert X participants Lita Albuquerque (L.A.), Sherin Guirguis (L.A.), and the collective Superflex (Denmark), as well as newcomers Manal AlDowayan, Zahra AlGhamdi, Nasser AlSalem, Rashed AlShashai, Muhannad Shono (all Saudi Arabia), Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim (U.A.E) and eLSeed (France/Tunisia).
