AFALULA and the IMA are partners in the 4th edition of the IMA Design Awards, which will be presented on Wednesday 9 September. Twenty-six finalists are in the running to win one of the five categories: the Emerging Talent Award, the Contemporary Craft Award, the Impact Award, the Grand Prix and the People’s Choice Award.
This close collaboration, which also forms part of the AlUla Cultural Season in Paris, is further showcased through the exhibition ‘AlUla: Design of a Living Landscape’ at the Institut du monde arabe, open to the public from 10 to 20 September 2026 (free admission). It highlights the growing role played by AlUla as a living laboratory for innovation and creativity.
On this occasion, Jean-Yves Le Drian, President of the French Agency for the Development of AlUla (AFALULA), and Anne-Claire Legendre, President of the Institut du monde arabe (IMA), expressed their hope that the IMA and AFALULA would further strengthen their collaboration in the future.
This initiative aims to strengthen and consolidate the long-term cooperation between AFALULA and the IMA, by pooling their respective areas of expertise in pursuit of a shared vision in the fields of creativity, cultural heritage and knowledge transfer. It reflects a commitment to developing concrete and sustainable projects designed to deepen cultural and artistic exchanges between France and Saudi Arabia.
These would cover a number of areas, including cooperation between museums, the organisation of exhibitions and cultural events, support for creative work and research, the conservation, restoration and promotion of heritage, as well as cultural outreach, training and the transmission of knowledge.
Initial initiatives are planned from 2027 onwards, including the creation of the IMA x Villa Hegra Emerging Talent Award, as part of the IMA Design Award. The winner of this special award will be awarded a residency at Villa Hegra in AlUla.
«This partnership with the Institut du monde arabe marks a new stage in our cooperation. Following the exhibition ‘AlUla, Wonder of Arabia’, which was held at the IMA in 2019 and will be shown in Beijing in 2024, it represents a real asset in achieving our ambition: to contribute to the vision for AlUla and to promote the rich history of this region across the world. This collaboration will also bring together our areas of expertise, give greater scope to our projects and strengthen cultural ties between France and Saudi Arabia. » Jean-Yves Le Drian, President of AFALULA.
« The Institut du monde arabe was the first institution to introduce AlUla to the French public, in 2019. This partnership with AFALULA provides a lasting framework for this shared history and places creativity, heritage and the transmission of knowledge at the heart of our cooperation with Saudi Arabia. From 2027, it will offer designers from the Arab world a residency in AlUla. This is the IMA’s mission: to foster dialogue between cultures through concrete projects. » Anne-Claire Legendre, President of the Institut du monde arabe.
Press contacts :
AFALULA :
Claudine Ripert [email protected], tel: +33 6 08 87 14 90
Jeanne Garcin [email protected], tel: +33 6 23 18 59 19
IMA :
Lorenzo Romano [email protected], tel +33 6 13 53 31 41
Selim Sameh [email protected]