Marvels of Saudi Music’ Initiative Showcases Saudi Creativity

Marvels of Saudi Music’ Initiative Showcases Saudi Creativity
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Marvels of Saudi Music’ Initiative Showcases Saudi Creativity

Marvels of Saudi Music’ Initiative Showcases Saudi Creativity

Under the patronage of Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, the Minister of Culture, the Music Commission, with the participation of the Theater and Performing Arts Commission (TPAC), organized a musical evening entitled "Marvels of Saudi Music" at the National Auditorium in Mexico City.

The event was attended by Mexican Culture Minister Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, Saudi Ambassador to Mexico Haitham bin Hassan Al-Maliki, TPAC CEO Sultan Al-Bazai, Music Commission CEO Paul Pacifico, ambassadors of the GCC member states and other Arab countries accredited to Mexico, Mexican cultural figures, and music lovers.

On behalf of the Saudi Minister of Culture, the CEO of the Music Commission delivered a speech in which he said: “I am pleased to welcome you to the ‘Marvels of Saudi Music’ initiative, in a wonderful concert, in which the Saudi National Orchestra and Choir, the Mexican Carlos Chavez Orchestra, and performing arts groups from the two countries participate”

“Saudi music has been painted since ancient times, an immortal painting, taking it past its initial starting point to the future in a journey of continuous and endless development. Its mainstay was the creative Saudi man, who lives today in a prosperous age under the Saudi Vision 2030, which considers supporting culture and empowering intellectuals an essential part of a development project that is the largest in the country’s history,” the CEO of the Music Commission added.

The concert included the participation of 33 musicians, 39 singers from the Saudi National Orchestra and Choir, 40 performers from the Performing Arts Ensemble, in addition to 57 musicians from the Mexican Carlos Chavez Orchestra and the Mexican Folkloric Ballet of Fulcorette de Amelia Ensemble.

During the concert, the Saudi Ambassador Al-Maliki, and Theater and Performing Arts Commission CEO Sultan Al-Bazai presented an oud musical instrument as a souvenir gift to the Mexican Minister of Culture, in appreciation of the great hospitality and interest that the Saudi delegation participating in this ceremony received.

The Saudi National Orchestra and Choir are among the initiatives launched by the Music Commission to celebrate Saudi musical creativity, share it with the world, and promote international cultural exchange through music.

The Mexico concert comes as part of the global tours of the “Marvels of Saudi Music” initiative organized by the Music Commission and the TPAC out of their belief in the importance of music and performing arts and their role in enhancing communication between peoples.

It also comes with the aim of achieving the goal of international cultural exchange, which is one of the strategic goals of the Ministry of Culture, which seeks to realize them under the umbrella of Saudi Vision 2030.



Louvre Museum Adds Haute Couture to High Antiquity

This photograph shows a dress created by John Galliano for Christian Dior fashion house from the Haute Couture 2005 collection displayed at the exhibition "Louvre Couture, Art and fashion: statement pieces" at the Louvre Museum in Paris on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
This photograph shows a dress created by John Galliano for Christian Dior fashion house from the Haute Couture 2005 collection displayed at the exhibition "Louvre Couture, Art and fashion: statement pieces" at the Louvre Museum in Paris on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
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Louvre Museum Adds Haute Couture to High Antiquity

This photograph shows a dress created by John Galliano for Christian Dior fashion house from the Haute Couture 2005 collection displayed at the exhibition "Louvre Couture, Art and fashion: statement pieces" at the Louvre Museum in Paris on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
This photograph shows a dress created by John Galliano for Christian Dior fashion house from the Haute Couture 2005 collection displayed at the exhibition "Louvre Couture, Art and fashion: statement pieces" at the Louvre Museum in Paris on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)

The Louvre, the world's most-visited museum, is for first time displaying haute couture gowns and accessories from fashion houses, including Chanel, Saint Laurent and Dior, next to decorative arts from Ancient Greece to France’s Second Empire.
"Paris is the capital of fashion – there is a very strong relationship between the fashion houses and Paris, and the Louvre is in the heart of Paris," Olivier Gabet, director of the museum’s decorative arts department, told Reuters on Friday at the opening of the couture exhibition.
Fashion houses have used the grounds of the Louvre for shows - but not the museum itself - and fashion designers, including Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy and Karl Lagerfeld, have long had an affinity for the museum and its collections.
But Gabet said the exhibition was "the first time the Louvre brings fashion inside the museum in this way”
A silk ball gown designed by John Galliano for Dior in 2006 sits in the centre of a room dedicated to Louis XIV, lined with ornate, gilded furniture and towering portraits of the Sun King.
In another room, Alexander McQueen's platform Armadillo shoes from 2011 are displayed in a case next to a 17th-century plate featuring pond life.
"The idea of this kind of exhibit is to say 'come to the Louvre, look at the collections differently,'" said Gabet.
Home to Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, the Louvre has requested urgent help from the French government to restore and renovate its aging exhibition halls and better protect its countless works of art.
The couture exhibition runs through July 21.