BEJING, Aug. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from CRI Online:
The World Internet Conference (WIC) held a press conference in Beijing on Aug 26 to brief the media on the upcoming 2025 WIC Cultural Heritage Digitalization Forum, outlining its overall arrangements, preparation progress, and key events.
Ren Xianliang, secretary-general of the WIC, Sun Daguang, head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Shaanxi Provincial Committee, and Zhang Fenghu, head of the Cyberspace Administration of Xi'an, attended the briefing and answered media questions. The event was chaired by Liang Hao, executive deputy secretary-general of the WIC.
The forum, hosted by the WIC and organized by the People's Government of Shaanxi Province, will be held in Xi'an from Sept 16 to 17 under the theme "Bridging History through Digitalization, Building Civilization with Intelligence." Discussions will center on key topics including "Preservation and Inheritance," "Technology and Innovation," "Industry and Empowerment" and "Openness and Collaborative Governance." The forum seeks to explore new digital approaches to cultural heritage preservation and foster exchanges among civilizations.
Ren noted that cultural heritage carries the legacy of civilizations. Digital technology, he said, has become a powerful tool for safeguarding and revitalizing cultural heritage. Hosting the forum in Xi'an, a historic cultural city, both reflects global trends in digital civilization and highlights the WIC's commitment to promoting digital protection and inheritance of cultural heritage, he noted.
Sun highlighted that Shaanxi has always attached great importance to the preservation and inheritance of cultural heritage and has made sustained efforts to advance its digitalization. He noted that the forum provides a valuable opportunity to strengthen dialogue with all sectors, draw on collective wisdom, and build broader consensus. By more effectively integrating culture with technology and harnessing digital tools, Shaanxi aims to enhance cultural heritage protection and inheritance. The province will further deepen international cooperation in this field, actively implement the Global Civilization Initiative, and contribute to greater exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, he added.
Zhang said that in recent years, Xi'an has advanced its strategy of revitalizing the city through culture, seizing opportunities brought by digital transformation and using digital technologies to drive the creative transformation and innovative development of its rich historical and cultural heritage. He said the city would take the forum as an opportunity to learn from international best practices, advance cultural exchanges, and play an active part in building a community with a shared future in cyberspace.
The forum will bring together senior representatives from international organizations, ministerial-level officials from relevant government departments, foreign envoys in China, representatives from leading cultural enterprises, and renowned scholars.
Several events are scheduled to take place during the forum, including an exhibition of outstanding digitalized heritage projects, a meeting of the WIC working group on cultural heritage digitalization, a training program hosted by the WIC Digital Academy, and the release of the WIC Cultural Heritage Digitalization Case Collection. These events are designed to provide a global platform for exchanges and cooperation in the field of cultural heritage digitalization.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
WIC to hold forum on cultural heritage digitalization
ALULA, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the official opening of Desert X AlUla 2026, the landmark fourth edition of the international, open-air biennial exhibition. Arts AlUla, in collaboration with Desert X, welcomes visitors to experience a stellar line-up of Saudi and international multi-generational artists whose site-responsive earthworks, sculptures, and installations will engage in a powerful dialogue with the awe-inspiring landscapes and layered heritage of AlUla.
As a premier destination rich in ancient history and breathtaking nature, AlUla, located in Northwest Saudi Arabia, solidifies its position on the global stage as a dynamic, emerging land art destination with Desert X AlUla, the region's first public art biennale, and a key highlight of the AlUla Arts Festival.
The 2026 edition of Desert X AlUla brings together 11 acclaimed artists whose diverse works reflect a wide spectrum of ideas, materials, and traditions. From monumental kinetic sculpture to sound-based explorations above and below ground, each commission is deeply rooted in relationships to AlUla's distinctive environment, further cementing Desert X AlUla's reputation as a globally significant platform for site-responsive land art.
Desert X AlUla runs until February 28, 2026, as a cornerstone of the annual AlUla Arts Festival. Curated by Wejdan Reda, Zoé Whitley, with artistic direction by Neville Wakefield, and Raneem Farsi, its fourth edition explores 'Space Without Measure.' Inspired by Kahlil Gibran, the theme fosters contemplation of imagination within AlUla's natural settings. The exhibition, set in the desert canyons of AlUla, serves as a pre-opening programme for Wadi AlFann, offering a pivotal glimpse into AlUla's plans to create a permanent land art 'Valley of the Arts.'
Hamad Alhomiedan, Director of Arts & Creative Industries at the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), said: "At Desert X AlUla 2026, audiences will engage with art that deeply converses with AlUla's unique landscapes and rich heritage. These compelling commissions highlight AlUla's dynamic transformation into a major global destination, where ancient and contemporary expressions converge. This exhibition is part of our broader revitalisation of AlUla as a culturally rich destination to live, work and visit and integral to positioning AlUla in the global dialogue of contemporary art and as a precursor to monumental projects like Wadi AlFann."
Participating artist/artworks are:
- Sara Abdu, A Kingdom Where No One Dies: Contours of Resonance
- Mohammad Alfaraj, What was the Question Again?
- Mohammed AlSaleem, The Thorn, AlShuruf Unit, The Triangles, Flower Bud, and Al Ahilla (courtesy of Royal Commission for Riyadh City)
- Tarek Atoui, The Water Song
- Bahraini-Danish, Bloom
- Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Imole Red
- Agnes Denes, The Living Pyramid
- Ibrahim El-Salahi, Haraza Tree
- Basmah Felemban, Murmur of Pebbles
- Vibha Galhotra, Future Fables
- Héctor Zamora, Tar HyPar
For further information, please contact:
Sabrine.Shaw@bursonglobal.com
AlUlaArtsFestival@bursonglobal.com
Multimedia gallery:
High-resolution photos of all 11 artists and their artworks can be found here.
About AlUla and Arts AlUla
Located 1,100 km from Riyadh, in North-West Saudi Arabia, AlUla is a place of extraordinary natural and human heritage. The vast area, covering 22,561km², includes a lush oasis valley, towering sandstone mountains and ancient cultural heritage sites dating back thousands of years to when the Lihyan and Nabataean kingdoms reigned.
The most well-known and recognised site in AlUla is Hegra, the principal southern city of the Nabataean Kingdom and Saudi Arabia's first UNESCO World Heritage Site. AlUla is also home to ancient Dadan, the capital of the Dadan and Lihyan Kingdoms and considered to be one of the most developed 1st millennium BCE cities of the Arabian Peninsula, and Jabal Ikmah, an open air library of hundreds of inscriptions and writings in many different languages. AlUla Old Town Village, a labyrinth of more than 900 mudbrick homes was developed from at least the 12th century and has been revitalised as the vibrant hub for visitors and residents.
The creation of Arts AlUla within The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) is a commitment to crafting the next chapters in a millennia of artistic creation – celebrating cultural inheritance and shaping a future inspired by artists built be artists. The work of Arts AlUla seeks to preserve this legacy: fuse the old with the new; the local with the international, keeping the arts central to the spirit of AlUla as a place of extraordinary natural and human heritage.
Wadi AlFann, meaning 'Valley of the Arts,' will be a global cultural destination for land art, unveiling from 2028 onwards, where era-defining works by artists from around the world will be permanently sited in the monumental landscape of AlUla, the extraordinary desert region of north-west Saudi Arabia.
** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **
Desert X AlUla 2026: monumental land art exhibition opens in the ancient oasis of AlUla
