“This exhibition is one of the most beautiful things in my life.” These few words spoken with pride by the Saudi archaeologist are perhaps the ones that best reflect his attachment to a region that already constitutes one of the jewels of the crown of Saudi heritage, which the world has begun to discover since the country’s opening to non-religious tourism.

“A key to protecting the region”

“The objective of this exhibition is to reveal the AlUla region and its strong points. For me, this means three things: nature, or more generally the environment, which is exposed in the first section with the work of Yann Arthus Bertrand; archaeology, which makes it possible to understand history, civilization, kingdoms, presented in the second section; and Man, implied the inhabitants of AlUla, who constitute an important key to continuing protecting the region,” explains the co-commissioner of the exhibition.

Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani

The importance attached to the third notion of the human dimension of the exhibition, and a fortiori, of the region itself, is not anecdotal. “The Man of AlUla is a very important key for the royal commission for AlUla,” continues Abdulrahman Alsuhaibani, “we cannot develop the region without his support. First, because it deserves to be included in the project, and second because, without it, the development will not succeed.

“Sharing our culture”

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has incorporated this notion well since it has recruited many local people from different professional backgrounds to train them in the profession of guides. In addition, students from the region have integrated academic programs – some in France – in fields such as agriculture, archaeology, history, or tourism, in order to prepare for the future of the region. These driving forces of AlUla are at the same time the fuel, the engine and the final destination of the region’s development. This vision of the RCU, one could say, is very organically involved in the Vision 2030 plan dear to Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salmane, which consists in relying on Saudi youth to build the future of the kingdom.

This youth, Ibraheem Balawi, one of the tourist guides trained by Abdulrahman’s teams, embodies him with all his being. Meeting at the Arab World Institute, he told us how proud he was to be the ambassador of his region, in Paris, one of the world’s most visited capitals by tourists.

I think this exhibition will have a positive impact on AlUla, because it will attract people, and allow us to showcase our culture, not only to France but to the whole world. For me, who worked in education, becoming a guide is a wonderful opportunity to meet people from all over the world and introduce them to my region.

Ibraheem Balawi