AtharX, a Saudi-headquartered experience design studio, and BRC Imagination Arts, a full-service strategy, design, and production company, have formed a strategic partnership to deliver world-class cultural experiences across Saudi Arabia's growing museum, heritage, and tourism industries.
The partnership aligns with Saudi Vision 2030's cultural goals by combining AtharX's deep knowledge of Saudi culture and local leadership with BRC Imagination Arts' 40 years of global design expertise and a renowned track record of delivery.
United by a common purpose
Saudi Arabia’s cultural sector is evolving rapidly and with great ambition, requiring both cultural expertise and exceptional global execution. This partnership combines these crucial elements to support the success of this growth path.
AtharX brings local creative leadership, cultural intelligence, and stakeholder fluency that only comes from being immersed in the culture.
BRC Imagination Arts brings decades of experience designing some of the world’s most acclaimed cultural attractions, museums, and immersive destinations — a body of work spanning six continents and recognised with more than 500 global honours and Academy Award nominations.
"This partnership is built on a conviction that Saudi Arabia's most ambitious cultural projects deserve both — Saudi leadership that ensures the work is culturally true, and global expertise that ensures it is world-class in execution," says Belal A Qilan, founder and CEO of AtharX.
"That combination is what AtharX and BRC bring together."
Founded forty-five years ago, BRC Imagination Arts is a respected name in global experience design. The company has delivered transformational cultural destinations, brand homes, world expo pavilions, and immersive attractions for some of the world's best-known institutions and brands.
BRC is dedicated to transformational storytelling, believing that the most impactful cultural experiences change the way audiences think, feel, and perceive the world.
This philosophy aligns closely with Saudi Vision 2030's cultural goals for the Kingdom's museums and heritage sites.
Supporting the Kingdom's ambitions
Vision 2030 has outlined a decisive mandate for Saudi Arabia's cultural sector: to attract 150 million visitors annually, make tourism account for 10% of GDP, and position the Kingdom as a recognised global cultural destination.
Achieving this goal demands cultural experiences that are not only ambitious in scale but also genuinely engaging and high-quality. These experiences should resonate with international visitors, accurately and proudly reflect Saudi culture, and leave a memorable impression that no other medium can match.
The AtharX and BRC Imagination Arts partnership is tailored to meet this need, providing Saudi commissioning bodies, government agencies, and cultural institutions with a comprehensive solution: Saudi-led cultural authorship combined with world-class design and production.
This end-to-end service is designed specifically for the scope and ambition of Vision 2030.
Capabilities include end-to-end narrative, spatial, and visitor experience design for cultural institutions of any size; visitor journey strategy for Saudi Arabia's emerging tourism destinations; interpretive design rooted in authentic Saudi cultural knowledge; and the integration of film, interactive technology, and immersive media to serve narratives.
The AtharX and BRC Imagination Arts partnership is a long-term commitment to developing Saudi Arabia's cultural sector. It focuses on knowledge transfer, the growth of local creative talent, and the creation of experiences that will shape the world's view of the Kingdom for decades.
Both studios believe the cultural experiences being developed in Saudi Arabia are among the most significant worldwide, with the potential to influence destination and sector standards. This partnership offers the best of both worlds to support this important work.
"We have worked in some of the most ambitious cultural contexts in the world over the past four decades," says Brad Shelton, vice president of creative & story at BRC Imagination Arts. "What is happening in Saudi Arabia right now is genuinely extraordinary — and we are proud to be partnering with AtharX to be part of it."
AtharX and BRC Imagination Arts invite Saudi cultural institutions, government entities, and development organisations to partner with a proven team committed to the Kingdom's long-term creative goals, one that leverages cultural credibility and global experience.
Officially launched earlier this year, AtharX was founded to meet a precise and consequential gap in the Kingdom's creative sector: the absence of a studio capable of combining genuine Saudi cultural leadership with world-class design execution.
Charlotte Coates is blooloop's editor. She is from Brighton, UK and previously worked as a librarian. She has a strong interest in arts, culture and information and graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Literature. Charlotte can usually be found either with her head in a book or planning her next travel adventure.
