Sarah Brahim and Ugo Schiavi's Glass Installation NEUMA Revives Desert Rituals at AlUla Art Festival

NEUMA – The Forgotten Ceremony (2023–24) is a site-specific installation featuring a glass sculpture and performance, crafted by artists Sarah Brahim and Ugo Schiavi at Wadi AlNaam in AlUla, Saudi Arabia. This project emerged from a year-long research residency at Villa Hegra, curated by Arnaud Morand and Wejdan Reda, during which the artists collaborated with archaeologists and epigraphists to explore remnants of vanished tribes. The glacier-like glass forms symbolize the transformation of breath into physical objects influenced by desert geology. An indoor exhibition at Dar Tantora showcases additional glass sculptures inscribed with abstract representations of nearby canyons. A film captures AlUla resident Muruj Alemam reciting poetry about desert traditions alongside her children, Dema and Ibrahim. The installation, which examines "neuma" as a life force through blown-glass pieces shaped by performers' breath, is part of the AlUla Art Festival and will be available until February 27, encouraging reflection on the region's rich history through ritualistic interactions with its landscape and heritage.