AlUla is taking its heritage beyond the boundaries of place and into a wider global conversation through “I Am a Storyteller: Sharing Stories from AlUla,” an initiative that places local community storytellers at the center of a new approach to presenting living heritage.
The initiative, developed through collaboration between UNESCO and the Royal Commission for AlUla, has taken the experience from AlUla to UNESCO headquarters in Paris and onward to the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan.
Rather than focusing solely on monuments and historical sites, the exhibition highlights people as an essential part of heritage, using personal stories and oral traditions to deepen understanding of places, communities, and the memories they preserve across generations.
Storytellers Preserving AlUla’s Memory
The initiative builds on AlUla’s thousands of years of history as a meeting point for civilizations and a space for cultural, commercial, and human exchange.
Local storytellers have long played an important role in preserving and transmitting poetry, literature, oral traditions, and collective memory, carrying details of everyday life that cannot be fully captured through written records alone.
Today, their role is expanding beyond preserving the past. Through conversations with visitors and members of the local community, storytellers share personal experiences, perspectives, and ways of life, creating opportunities for meaningful cross-cultural exchange.
Their approach moves beyond simply explaining AlUla’s history. It allows visitors to understand the place through the experiences of the people who have lived alongside its heritage.
The “Living Museum” Model
UNESCO and the Royal Commission for AlUla support the storytellers through the “Living Museum” model, an innovative approach designed to transform heritage locations into spaces for interaction, dialogue, and cultural exchange.
Unlike traditional heritage experiences that primarily provide visitors with historical information, the model gives local communities a direct role in interpreting their heritage and telling the stories connected to it.
Storytellers act as facilitators, bringing visitors and local residents together to exchange stories, experiences, and perspectives.
Through this approach, heritage becomes more than preserved buildings and archaeological remains. It becomes a living memory that continues to evolve through the people who carry its stories and share them with new generations and visitors from around the world.
From Paris to AlUla: “Story by Story”
“I Am a Storyteller” is part of a broader partnership between UNESCO and the Royal Commission for AlUla aimed at developing new ways of connecting heritage with local communities.
The development of the model began at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where AlUla storytellers joined international museum and heritage practitioners to explore approaches to intercultural dialogue and participate in developing prototypes for the Living Museum concept.
The model was later tested in AlUla under the local banner “Story by Story,” with storytellers serving as facilitators of dialogue and cultural exchange.
Drawing on personal stories and lived experiences, the initiative creates direct connections between visitors and the local community, giving oral storytelling a renewed role in communicating the human meaning of heritage.
A Photographic Exhibition in Paris
As part of the initiative, UNESCO headquarters in Paris hosted an outdoor photographic exhibition from June 15 to August 31, 2026, presenting images of AlUla’s living heritage and highlighting the relationship between local residents, their surroundings, and the memory of the place.
The exhibition demonstrates how AlUla’s community continues to reinterpret and communicate its heritage, positioning local people as active participants in telling the story of their homeland rather than simply recipients of historical information.
Its presentation on international cultural platforms also offers global audiences an opportunity to experience AlUla through the voices and experiences of its people, alongside the significance of its historic sites.
A Model With Global Potential
The significance of “I Am a Storyteller” extends beyond AlUla. Through their partnership, UNESCO and the Royal Commission for AlUla are developing a practical model that museums, cultural institutions, and heritage sites around the world could adapt.
At its core is the idea that heritage preservation is inseparable from the communities that live alongside it and carry its memory, and that direct human interaction can strengthen understanding and appreciation across cultures.
The model is designed to be adaptable to different cultural environments, combining heritage sites, personal narratives, and direct engagement with local communities.
From AlUla to the World
As “I Am a Storyteller” moves from AlUla to Paris and then to the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee in Busan, the stories of the local community reach an increasingly international audience.
The initiative offers a contemporary approach to heritage, positioning people as essential partners in interpreting and safeguarding it while giving oral storytelling a renewed role in connecting the past with the present.
In AlUla, the story is not told from outside the place. It comes from the people who know it best, turning every story into a bridge between generations, between a place and its visitors, and between cultures.
