AlUla Rawis Take Saudi Storytelling To Washington DC

AlUla’s Rawi in Residence programme has completed a week-long residency at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., bringing Saudi storytelling traditions into public talks, workshops and object-based exchanges.

At the centre of the residency was ‘Qissa bi Qissa’, Arabic for ‘Swap a Story’, a UNESCO co-created format built around heritage objects and personal memories. Participants used objects including a brass incense burner and coffee pot as starting points for conversations about trade, family, migration and memory.

Rawis Atif Albalawi and Wedad Yaseen led the programme, which engaged 159 museum visitors, academics, docents and cultural practitioners over the course of the week.

Three small-group ‘Qissa bi Qissa’ sessions brought together 38 participants to exchange personal stories and connect contemporary experiences with the history of the Incense Road. A public lecture titled ‘AlUla and the Incense Road: An Ancient World in Dialogue’ drew 97 attendees, while ‘Once Upon an Incense Road’ introduced younger visitors and families to the historic trade route.

The Rawis also worked with 24 museum professionals, including interns and docents, on interpretation techniques designed to make heritage presentations more conversational and participatory.

“AlUla is cultivating its own unique approach to cultural interpretation – one deeply human and rooted in shared discovery and long-standing oral traditions,” said Phillip Jones, Chief Tourism Officer at the Royal Commission for AlUla.

The Washington residency follows previous international appearances by the programme at venues including the UNESCO Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, UNESCO Headquarters in Paris and the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Later this year, ‘Qissa bi Qissa’ is set to return to AlUla as a bookable public experience at Hegra, Dadan, Jabal Ikmah and AlUla Old Town.