The winds of change blowing through Saudi Arabia include a cultural renaissance that has seen glitzy music concerts, cinemas reopened and the introduction, from April, of tourist visas.
The opportunity to experience Saudi Arabia’s fresh dive in the world of culture was put on display in London’s Berkeley Square on Wednesday in a special exhibition by the General Culture Authority to coincide with Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s visit to Britain.
The three-day event named Saudi Cultural Days aims to give those living in Britain a taste of what life is like in the Kingdom.
“Saudi Arabia has been a melting pot and crossroads of civilisations for 9,000 years. Our goal in London is to showcase both our history and contemporary Saudi culture and we invite everyone in London to come and experience the past, present and future with us,” said Ahmed Al Maziad, CEO of the GCA.
“The exhibition and events are being held to mark the visit to London of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. We are dedicated to promoting the recognition of culture as vital for human development and are committed to promoting cross-cultural arts education to create an atmosphere that builds respect, knowledge and understanding for the world’s diverse cultural populations,” said Edward Dolman, CEO of Phillips auction house, which provided the venue.
_______________
Read more:
Saudi Crown Prince in UK: Mohammed bin Salman lunches with Queen and holds talks with Theresa May
Saudi Crown Prince presents his transformative Vision 2030 to UK
_______________
Whole-istic, curated by Aya Alireza and Raneem Zaki Farsi, includes three exhibitions of art and photography, a virtual reality experience, musical performances as well as screenings of Saudi films.
The exhibition comes at a time of great cultural change for the Kingdom, which lifted a 35-year ban on cinemas at the beginning of the year and is preparing to issue tourist visas from April.
Upon entering the gallery, visitors are invited to take part in AlQatt Alasiri, an age-old practice by women in the region of Asir in the south west of the country. Women invite house guests to help decorate interior walls of their homes using colourful painting techniques.
By the end of the three-day event, two white canvases with geometric outlines drawn on will be completely coloured in by gallery goers.
“It is not customary to put the colour green next to blue” a General Culture Authority representative told The National, who attempted the practice.
Two Saudi films were screened to audiences at the gallery on the first day including The Departures, which won the top prize at the Saudi Film Festival. The Departures follows the story of two men on an airplane, one of whom is an extremist thinking of blowing himself up while the other is terminally ill and contemplating suicide. Released in 2017, the film was shown in a large marquee at the festival because cinema theatres were still banned.
To mark the Crown Prince’s trip, the exhibition incorporated a collection of photographs taken by Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone during a visit to Saudi Arabia in 1938. Princess Alice, the youngest granddaughter of Queen Victoria, was the first member of the British royal family to visit the Kingdom. Her legendary trip took place 80 years before Prince Mohammed made his first official visit. Princess Alice was the only member of the British royal family to meet King Abdulaziz, the founder of modern Saudi Arabia, having been invited by his son to make the trip during a chance encounter at Ascot racecourse. In a journey that took almost three weeks, the British princess travelled from Jeddah on the west coast all the way through to Dahran in the east, taking 300 photographs across the way.
Bringing the exhibition back to the 21st century, visitors who had never been to the Kingdom were able to simulate being in the country via a virtual reality experience. By donning a headset, visitors could navigate their way through some of Saudi Arabia’s cultural ruins in an almost life-like simulation.
Saudi Cultural Days: Whole-istic runs at Phillips auction house in Berkeley Square, London from March 7 to 9
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
Cedric Alexander retained the WWE Cruiserweight title against Kalisto
Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus
Jeff Hardy retained the United States title against Jinder Mahal
Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos
Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe
AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out
The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match
Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Seoul from Dh3,775 return, including taxes
The package
Ski Safari offers a seven-night ski package to Korea, including five nights at the Dragon Valley Hotel in Yongpyong and two nights at Seoul CenterMark hotel, from £720 (Dh3,488) per person, including transfers, based on two travelling in January
The info
Visit www.gokorea.co.uk
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
RACE CARD
6.30pm: Handicap (Turf) US$175,000 1,000m
7.05pm: Al Bastakiya Trial Conditions (Dirt) $100,000 1,900m
7.40pm: Al Rashidiya Group 2 (T) $250,000 1,800m
8.15pm: Handicap (D) $135,000 2,000m
8.50pm: Al Fahidi Fort Group 2 (T) $250,000 1,400m
9.25pm: Handicap (T) $135,000 2,410m.
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
WEST ASIA RUGBY 2017/18 SEASON ROLL OF HONOUR
Western Clubs Champions League
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons
Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership Cup
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Dubai Exiles
UAE Premiership
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
PFA Premier League team of 2018-19
Allison (Liverpool)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City)
Andrew Robertson (Liverpool)
Paul Pogba (Manchester United)
Fernandinho (Manchester City)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Mountain%20Boy
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Zainab%20Shaheen%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Naser%20Al%20Messabi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Tips to avoid getting scammed
1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone
4) Try not to close the sale at night
5) Don't be rushed into a sale
6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour
