RCU and the Canon Young People Programme announce continued collaboration on photography and video storytelling workshops, inspiring, educating and empowering the young people of AlUla to nurture their creativity

• 14 young people from AlUla have now joined the 2023 programme, which will culminate in a public exhibition of the most outstanding images and stories from each student
• Free Masterclasses in photography and storytelling to be taught by specialists from Canon at Madrasat Addeera, AlUla’s first Arts and Design Centre

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) and global imaging company Canon announce a continued collaboration in 2023 to offer workshops for the young people of AlUla, the region in north-west Saudi Arabia that RCU is regenerating as a global destination for cultural and natural heritage.

The workshops began this week and will run through 25 January 2023 at the Madrasat Addeera, with students making site visits to capture the splendour of AlUla in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Locations include the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Hegra, AlUla Old Town, the AlUla oasis, the Maraya multi-purpose venue, as well as different local-community based locations. An exhibition of their photographs will then take place in February in AlUla’s arts district, Al Jadidah, during AlUla Arts Festival.

From more than 100 applications submitted for the program, 14 participants were chosen by a judging panel in collaboration with Canon. The workshops will be taught by experts from Canon, with assistance from prior program alumni from the AlUla community. Canon will provide cameras for the workshops.

The group of 14 young people aged 14 to 18 is taking part in the free workshops, which aim to inspire, educate and empower them to tell their stories, as well as support them with the knowledge, skills and confidence to tackle the sustainability issues that matter to them using creativity and critical thinking.

The programme of storytelling workshops serves RCU’s strategic objectives in several ways:

• It advances RCU’s objective to diversify the economy of AlUla and create new career paths for young people
• It adds to AlUla’s emerging creative ecosystem, alongside pillars such as Winter at Tantora, Desert X AlUla and the Cortona On The Move photography exhibit
• It expands RCU’s roster of high-end collaborations, which already includes Ferrandi Paris, Piaget, Banyan Tree, Habitas and the Louvre museum, and extends the range of those alliances 

Hamad A Alhomiedan, Arts Enrichment and Academia Manager, Royal Commission for AlUla said: “Collaboration with Canon provides a new lens through which we see AlUla’s creative and rewarding future. It teaches precise, practical skills to young people as we diversify the economy and empower the community. It awakens creativity and further positions AlUla as a sanctuary for the arts. And it broadens our impressive base of global alliances.”

Adam Pensotti, Head of the Canon Young People Programme, Canon EMEA said: “Building on the fantastic success of the 2022 Canon Young People Programme in AlUla, it is a pleasure to be looking ahead to our 2023 programme. The creative work produced by young people in AlUla in 2022 was amongst the best that I have seen across Europe, Middle East and Africa, and it is a great to see Canon continue the successful partnership with the RCU into a second year.”