sarah brahim & ugo schiavi unearth AlUla’s forgotten rituals with glass temples & vessels

sarah brahim and ugo shiavi unearth alula’s lost mythologies

NEUMA: The Forgotten Ceremony is a meditation on pre-Islamic rituals and mythology, inspired by the desert of AlUla in Saudi Arabia. Staged amid the canyons of Wadi Al Naam and extending to an ancient mud-brick hotel, the two-part installation draws from archaeological and epigraphic research into the heritage of the land and the stories of its many ancient civilizations. Together, artists Sarah Brahim and Ugo Shiavi use breath, light, and performative movement to reimagine the rites and lingering spirituality of the lost ceremonies of the mountains.

The first expression is part architecture, part mirage, in which a cluster of glass panels rise from the sand to create a temple for reflection. Their translucent fragments catch the shifting light, echoed in the luminous glass vessels on display at the indoor exhibition in the old town. These mystical hand-crafted sculptures produce resonant tones that expand into the desert as a gesture of presence.

all images courtesy of the Royal Commission for AlUla

neuma: the forgotten ceremony

The title of the project, NEUMA, derives from the ancient Greek ‘pneuma’ — meaning breath or spirit — grounding the work in the idea of a unifying presence that sustains and connects all of life, as the curators note. Saudi-American artist Sarah Brahim and French artist Ugo Schiavi’s research into AlUla’s past, undertaken with archaeologists and epigraphists as part of their residency at the upcoming Villa Hegra, reveals the remnants of a forgotten era where rituals were once integral in shaping space and meaning. Rather than reconstructing these lost ceremonies, NEUMA creates a framework for experiencing them in the present through the visceral, across natural and man-made sites.

Across both of these historic locations, glass is the connective element — formed by fire and shaped by breath. At Wadi Al Naam, appearing like architectural or natural ruins, it evokes the vastness of its landscape with jagged edges echoing contours of the geology. Marked with imprints resonating with the weathered topographies surrounding it and refracting light, the glass is transformed into the terrain.

glass vessels activated by light and breath complete the ceremony

At Dar Tantora, NEUMA takes on a more intimate scale. The hand-crafted blown-glass vessels, carrying the imprint of breath, illuminate the dimly lit room from their niches within the mud-brick walls. They invite visitors to activate them with their breath that reverberates across the room, completing this ceremonial choreography that has been unearthed from the desert canyon. The accompanying film in the adjacent room, which was created in collaboration with AlUla-based performer Muruj Alemam and her children, Dema and Ibrahim, extends this meditation on air, movement, and ritual.