incentives: heritage saudi arabia 2012
SAUDI MUSEUMS: PROTECTING THE PAST FOR THE FUTURE
The Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities (SCTA) strives to preserve the national, cultural and
TRADITIONS SUCH AS BISHIT MAKING ARE SAFEGUARDED
architectural heritage, its rehabilitation and development, by highlighting it as the responsibility of every citizen
CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS A variety of institutions have been estab- lished throughout Saudi Arabia to preserve the countryÕs cultural heritage, the largest being the Department of Culture at the Ministry of Culture & Information. This department sponsors a wide range of cul- tural programmes, including: literary and drama clubs; arts and crafts; and folklore classes. The Department of Culture regularly sponsors exhibitions, literary readings and symposia. It also sponsors Saudi nationals in international art and cultural events.
The Department of Museums & Antiq- uities was established in 1974, but today, the responsibility for the many museums throughout the country falls on the Saudi Commission for Tourism & Antiquities (SCTA). One of the SCTAs main objectives is to create awareness of the national cultural and architectural heritage and raise its cultural and economic impor- tance, locally and internationally, thereby creating employment opportunities for lo- cal communities as well as the preserva- tion of artefacts and buildings. SCTA also strives to preserve the national cultural and architectural heritage, its reha- bilitation and development by highlighting it as the responsibility of every citizen. HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman Bin Abdu- laziz, chairman of the SCTA, in an address to the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, said: ÒOur heritage is considered a national asset for the tourism initiative, because we
recognise that sustainable tourism is po- tentially a significant source of employment and a major development engine, a means by which our heritage can be protected and used proactively to become the attraction for social interaction between communities.Ó The Saudi Arabian Society for Culture & Arts, founded in 1972, supports rising local talent and provides them with the opportunity to display their art. The society has established a library and information centre, as well as the KingdomÕs first cultural centre in Riyadh. Furthermore, there is the King Fahd Library in Riyadh, which has collected one of the largest selections of rare manuscripts on Arabic and Islamic literature and the King Faisal Foundation, which awards annual King Faisal International Prizes, including one for Arabic literature.
The largest museum in Saudi Arabia is the National Museum in Riyadh, which opened in 1999. This museum was built to com- memorate the centennial of the taking of the Masmak Fortress by King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman in 1902. This single event led to the founding of the modern Saudi state. Other museums in Riyadh include the King Saud University Museum, which has a display of finds from archaeological digs and Murabba Palace, with exhibits of traditional clothing and crafts.
More museums are either under construc- tion or in planning stages all over Saudi Arabia. The SCTA has announced plans to establish an Islamic heritage museum in Makkah and a QurÕan museum in Madinah.
CULTURAL FESTIVALS The most famous cultural event in Saudi Arabia is the Jenadriyah Heritage & Cultural Festival, organised every year by the National Guard. The festival was first held in 1985 and, today, it continues to attract annually more than one million Saudis keen to learn about the traditional culture and crafts of Saudi Arabia.
The event opens with a traditional camel race and is followed by artisan displays, such as pottery, woodwork and weavers. Visitors can also stroll through history in a heritage village, which resides permanently in Jenad- riyah, just outside Riyadh.
At the heritage village, visitors can watch blacksmiths smelting iron and hammer- ing out swords and daggers, together with metalsmiths creating traditional brass and copper coffee pots, potters using a tradi- tional foot-powered wheel, tailors hand- sewing cloaks and basket weavers shaping harvested palm fronds.
There are also traditional dancers per-
forming the ardha, the national male sword dance, with singers and poetry recitals. Poetry is considered to be one of the highest expressions of literary art in Saudi Arabia. It has been passed down from the days of the Bedouin, where travellers would gather around a storyteller to hear tales of love, bravery, chivalry and war. The Holy QurÕan is revered as the ultimate literary model. Saudi folk music has also been shaped and influenced by the nomadic Bedouins and the travelling pilgrims.
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