In the artwork, I take the old town of AlUla as my starting point, a bridge between what came before and where we are today, a small town that sits cradled between architectural wonders and geographic phenomena, comfortable in its presence and empowered with its responsibility. I wanted to create a work that translates what this modest human structure symbolises in the greater narrative of the area and my country.

The form of the artwork takes inspiration from the structure of the old town’s mud walls, a large spider web that sprawls in every direction with its center anchored by a large dark mountain. The town walls hug the huge sandstone cliff as a child hugs a parent. The inhabitants and their 800 homes probably used this cliff for protection, survival and strategic advantage. The layout of the artwork will imitate all East-facing walls in the town. These are walls that have see the sun rise and set on them for 2000 years.

Using new research in sustainable methods, the artwork will have walls made of reusable bi-products found in the landscape of AlUla. Hundreds of wall-like structures will be carefully constructed, keeping in the tradition of the stone art made in AlUla and Hegra. This will create an open-air labyrinth of beautiful mud and stone like structures that will carry on their surfaces engraved words and drawings that narrate the stories of local Saudi Arabian folklore. Stories told by the current custodians of the historical narrative, adding their words and imagination to the library of stone engravings in AlUla.

Through a series of participatory workshops with the people of AlUla, I will collect the stories and drawings that will be placed in the artwork. I will lead the workshops through a month long residency in AlUla, gathering men and women from all segments of society, in designated spaces, where we will discuss history and storytelling and then I will invite the participants to tell me the stories their grandmothers had told them.