Future Archaeologies: Commissioning, Artists and the Making of a Museum,
by Arts AlUla, the AlUla Contemporary Art Museum and AFALULA

With Candida Pestana, Arnaud Morand & Anna Hiddleston

AlUla, a region of extraordinary archaeological heritage and natural landscapes in northwestern Saudi Arabia, is undergoing an ambitious cultural transformation. Through a growing ecosystem of museums, artist residencies, public art commissions, exhibitions and cultural initiatives, AlUla is fostering new forms of artistic production and international exchange, connecting its rich heritage with contemporary creative practices.

Taking Ayman Zedani’s exhibition In the Bellies of the Rocks, presented at Paris Internationale, as its starting point, this conversation explores how a museum can take shape long before its physical opening. Commissioned by the AlUla Contemporary Art Museum (ACAM) following the artist’s long-term residency, the installation combines archival footage, 3D scans and speculative narratives to imagine a future archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula, where fiction, landscape and history intertwine.
Bringing together the artist, the exhibition’s co-curators Candida Pestana and Arnaud Morand, and Anna Hiddleston from the Centre Pompidou, a key institutional partner of ACAM, the discussion will examine the role of artistic commissions and residencies in shaping an emerging museum’s identity, collection and programme. It will also explore how artists engage with archaeological landscapes and historical narratives, and how collaborations between established and emerging institutions can foster mutual learning, experimentation and new approaches to museum-making.
Through Zedani’s practice and his sustained relationship with AlUla, the conversation asks a broader question: how can artists contribute not only to the collections of future museums, but to the very institutions they aspire to become?

This conversation is presented as part of the AlUla Cultural Season in Paris, organised by Arts AlUla, the AlUla Contemporary Art Museum, AFALULA and Paris Internationale.
Talk in English.

Candida Pestana is the Head of the AlUla Contemporary Art Museum, working for the Royal Commission of Alula to manage the project and develop the strategy for the museum’s implementation and contemporary art collection. Prior to this, she spent over 8 years as the Chief Curator of Contemporary Art at the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), developing the institution from its inception and establishing its contemporary and modern art collections. She also played a key role in fostering partnerships and opportunities for artists in the Middle East, including the prestigious Ithra Art Prize. With more than 21 years of experience in museum development and cultural diplomacy, Candida holds an MA in Curatorial Studies from Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland and a BA in Fine Arts Painting from the University of Porto in Portugal and the University of Barcelona in Spain.
Candida Pestana is an experienced professional who has worked in various contemporary art institutions across the globe, including Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, South Africa, and the United States. She has also worked for the United Nations Office in Geneva, where she was responsible for organizing and coordinating more than 60 cultural and educational projects and exhibitions each year. Her research has been published in several art catalogs and publications, including ICOM Museum International. She is a regular participant and speaker at renowned international conferences and symposiums and a member of CIMAM and ICOM.

Arnaud Morand is Head of Arts and Creative Industries at the French Agency for AlUla Development (AFALULA) - and leads on the development of AlUla cultural programming and its museum and cultural assets. Arnaud Morand is also an independent curator with a focus on the emerging contemporary art scenes of Europe and the Middle East. In 2022, he co-curated Noor Riyadh, the citywide festival of light and art, focusing on major public commissions by regional artists. He currently sits on the Artistic Committee of Salon de Montrouge. Previously, he served as Cultural Attaché for France in Abu Dhabi, where he oversaw the opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi and curated a major two-year program in collaboration with key cultural institutions and artists, building bridges between European and Middle Eastern artistic scenes. He also held senior positions at the Centre Pompidou and Gaîté Lyrique in Paris. He holds degrees from Sciences Po, UC Berkeley, as a dancer and musician from the National Conservatory, and was named Knight of the Order of Arts & Letters in 2021.

Anna Hiddleston is Curator of International Projects at the Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris. She began her career there as Associate Curator, contributing to major contemporary exhibitions including Air de Paris (2007) and Danser sa vie (2011). Since 2013, she has worked on significant modern art exhibitions such as Matisse in His Time and Francis Bacon / Bruce Nauman: Face to Face, and co-curated Francis Bacon: Books and Paintings (2019) and the major Georgia O’Keeffe retrospective at the Centre Pompidou in 2021. Hiddleston also led the curatorial program for the Centre Pompidou’s proposed museum in Jersey City, a project she developed over four years. She co-curated the Arduna exhibition which opened in January 2026 in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, and is currently curating a series of exhibitions for the Arkas Art Foundation in Izmir, Turkey as well as exhibitions at Kanal – Centre Pompidou in Brussels and in Japan, as part of the Centre Pompidou’s international constellation program.