AlUla Contemporary Art Museum Plans Advance with Pompidou Partnership as Cultural Strategy Draws Scrutiny

New details have been released about the planned AlUla Contemporary Art Museum in northwest Saudi Arabia, a new institution being developed by Arts AlUla, part of the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), in partnership with the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

The museum, first announced in 2023, is being designed by the Paris-based architect Lina Ghotmeh and will be located in the AlUla Oasis, within a historic region that includes the Unesco World Heritage site of Hegra. An opening date has not yet been announced, and the final size of the building has not been confirmed, though project timelines are aligned with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 development programme.

Updated curatorial and collecting plans were presented on 1 February at the launch of Arduna, a group exhibition of more than 80 works staged at a temporary venue in the oasis and described by organisers as a preview of the future museum’s direction. The exhibition was co-curated by teams from the AlUla museum and the Centre Pompidou and centres on relationships between humanity and nature. Participating artists include Wassily Kandinsky, Etel Adnan, Dana Awartani and Tarek Atoui.

The Oasis, AlUla, Saudi Arabia

Candida Pestana, the museum’s inaugural director, said the institution’s programme will be structured around three themes: heritage, environment and landscape, and community. Collecting plans include acquiring works across artists’ careers, including archives and research material, with an emphasis on long-term artist relationships and research access. Press materials indicate the collection is expected to comprise roughly 60–70% artists from Saudi Arabia and the wider region, with around 30–40% international practitioners.

Under the partnership agreement, the Centre Pompidou will collaborate on exhibitions, research and publications, and is expected to support loans and training opportunities for Saudi curators. Project advisers have previously said the museum is building a permanent collection including works by artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Carmen Herrera, Manal AlDowayan, Etel Adnan and Ibrahim El Salahi. Financial terms of the Pompidou partnership have not been publicly confirmed.

Desert X 2026 Works by Mohammed Al Saleem throughout the exhibition are on loan courtesy of Riyadh Art collection, The Royal Commission for Riyadh City

The museum forms part of a broader AlUla cultural strategy that includes Wadi AlFann, a desert programme of permanent large-scale commissions by artists including Agnes Denes, Manal Al-Dowayan, Michael Heizer, Ahmed Mater and James Turrell; the Desert X AlUla biennial; and the AlJadidah Arts District. Saudi and French government bodies are jointly involved in aspects of the AlUla development through intergovernmental agreements signed in 2018.

Saudi Arabia’s expanding cultural programme has also attracted criticism from some observers and human rights advocates, who describe major museum and public art investments as a form of “culture washing” or “artwashing” aimed at improving the country’s international image through high-profile commissions and partnerships. Critics argue that large-scale artist projects and international collaborations function in part as tools of cultural normalisation amid ongoing scrutiny of the kingdom’s human rights record.

Other commentators and regional arts figures dispute that characterisation, arguing that state-backed investment has enabled new infrastructure, exhibitions and opportunities for artists and cultural workers, and that participating artists are not directed in the content of their work.

Separately, Saudi anti-corruption authorities announced in late January the arrest of Amr al-Madani, the chief executive of the AlUla development project, over allegations relating to conduct prior to his 2017 appointment. Officials said the charges concern abuse of authority and money laundering linked to earlier contracts. AlUla’s museum and cultural projects are continuing while investigations proceed.