The official launch of the first edition of Cortona on the Move AlUla took place this weekend. The founders and officials of the original Cortona on the Move in Tuscany, Italy, were in attendance with a group of international media and artists whose work is being exhibited in the site-responsive narrative photography festival. It’s another first for the emerging arts capital of the Kingdom, AlUla, and is part of the inaugural AlUla Arts festival which runs from Feb. 13 to March 31. Invitees gathered at the Cortona Hub in the new Aljadidah precinct to hear from Sumantro Ghose, artist programming director at Royal Commission for AlUla, Arianna Rinaldo — one of two curators of the exhibition alongside Saudi artist Kholood Albakras — well as Veronica Nicolardi, director of COTM before doing a full tour of the 15 sites. “AlUla is a place with narrative at its heart. Every landscape tells a story — a story of continuity, where time and nature have shaped epic and sweeping vistas,” said Ghose. “Today we welcome a global collective of visual storytellers to share their perspectives and respond to our unique environs.” The title of the exhibition, Past Forward – Time, Life and Longing came together organically as conversations with the artists evolved. Themes in the first edition of Cortona on the Move AlUla range from important and emotive stories from artists Tanya Habjouqa’s Tomorrow There will be Apricots, and Omar Iman, Live, Love, Refugee and climate change with Simon Norfolk’s, Shroud and Mohammad AlFaraj’s Guardians of the Oasis. “We are facing the extinction of the oasis,” said AlFaraj. “I decided to document this issue that is not well covered by media and not known by the pubic — the second part is more positive, trying to find ways of dealing with the situation.” Bahrain artist Ali Al Shehabi is exhibiting his series of photographs, Men of the Pearl for the first time. The artworks showing khaleeji men in their households doing everyday domestic things, Ali says the idea was to counteract a dying art of having photos printed in frames of family members around the house. Ali says about the Cortona on the Move AlUla, “Exhibiting here and being here is different and very unique, it gives the works a new life and meaning being outside of your typical gallery environment. "Visitors get a sense not only of the artworks but of the city and the special energy that resonates with the experience the artworks and the heritage. The theme really suits the works, it means something, it’s more than a snap of a camera, bigger than the photography, we are dealing with topics that mean a lot.” Other artworks selected include a 10-meter high selection from Adel Al Quraishi’s Vast Land Vast Faces with a striking image of a grave-digger. And from pervious Cortona on the Move editions in Italy, topics deal with future, aging and nostalgia, as in Alejandro Chaskielberg’s Ostuchi Future Memories, and Phillip Toledano’s Maybe. The weekend launch events included an in conversation with three of the artists and a series of workshops for the public. Public guided tours of the exhibition will be available on Fridays from Feb. 25 to March 25 at 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and for families on Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Both available in English and Arabic. A special masterclass for students aged 14 – 18 years will be run on March 11. The exhibition is free to the public and there are a series of indoor and outdoor sites. — SG