From Henry Moore’s 1970s Jeddah to Folkestone’s Coastline 
Earlier this summer, I visited the Henry Moore Studios and Archives in Hertfordshire before traveling to Kent for the Folkestone Triennial, an innovative public art exhibition. At first, these two English sites seemed worlds apart from Jeddah. Yet as I moved between monumental sculptures and coastal installations, I uncovered unexpected parallels with the Saudi city’s own transformation. These seemingly distant sites are, in fact, part of a wider conversation about how communities engage with culture and art as they look ahead.
At the Henry Moore Archives, the team shared with me the international interest in Jeddah’s Corniche, where some of Moore’s most iconic works have stood since the 1970s, weathering the elements along the Red Sea coast. Moore’s sculptures form a symbolic link between landscapes. In Britain, his work sits within a national lineage of twentieth-century sculpture whose abstract forms have travelled across the world.
In the 1970s, Jeddah launched a public art initiative, commissioning international modernists such as Moore and others. by the mid-1970s, four monumental Henry Moore sculptures were installed along the Corniche, marking a historic arrival of contemporary international art in Saudi Arabia. Works were commissioned from the world's greatest sculptors. This initiative was designed 'to bring delight to the citizen, to give a sense of wonder and stir a sense of history'. Decades later, restoration efforts culminated in the launch of the Jeddah Sculpture Museum in 2014. Overseen by Jeddah Municipality and Art Jameel, these efforts included relocating and enhancing the visibility of key works. This was considered the country’s biggest open-air sculpture museum and has had a big influence on the national conception of public art.
In Folkestone, public artworks dot the shoreline as part of its visual identity. It is considered the UK's largest urban contemporary art exhibition. It transformed from a harbour and shipping port in the early 2000s into a cultural destination through the Triennial and its permanent outdoor art trail. International and British artists like Antony Gormley have used the coastal setting as a living canvas. After each festival many installations became permanent. Folkestone's creative industry, driven significantly by the Creative Foundation and the Folkestone Triennial, generates substantial economic value. Since 2008, Folkestone Triennial has been one of the most influential and ambitious art festivals in the UK, attracting approximately 640,000 visitors and generating economic investment of more than 100 million pounds for the local area.
Like Jeddah, Folkstone is a coastal city that turned to public art as a means of cultural revitalisation and international exchange. Jeddah continues to play an important role as a meeting point for global and regional artistic movements. Looking ahead, public art in coastal cities offers a way of forecasting cultural futures. Just as Moore’s monumental works once reflected a modernist vision for Jeddah, today’s public art can imagine more sustainable and participatory cities with integrated digital layers or ecological designs.
There is a great opportunity to build on these existing links and parallels. In Saudi Arabia, public space remains a promising arena for cultural innovation and urban planning. There is scope to connect earlier public art initiatives with Vision 2030 projects. International networks already in place can be strengthened, while new forms of exchange and collaboration can be developed. Through my visits to the two sites and conversations in the United Kingdom, I sensed a genuine openness to partnership. It is an openness that could serve as a foundation for advancing the next phase of cultural infrastructure in both countries.
• Dr. Ghadah W. Alharthi is an international cultural adviser and an associate professor specializing in culture and innovation at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. X: @ GhadahWA
