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Riyadh Meeting Expected to Include 50 Sites on World Heritage List

The logo of the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee (Media Center)
The logo of the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee (Media Center)
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Riyadh Meeting Expected to Include 50 Sites on World Heritage List

The logo of the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee (Media Center)
The logo of the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee (Media Center)

The extended 45th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee will take place in Riyadh between September 10 and 25 and is expected to include several new heritage sites qualified for addition to the World Heritage List.

According to the Committee's agenda, proposals will be examined to add 50 sites to the World Heritage List, including 37 cultural sites, 12 natural sites, and two sites of mixed significance.

The World Heritage Site Managers' Forum will convene on the sidelines of the Riyadh meeting.

Managers and persons working within World Heritage site management systems from across the globe will participate in this year's Forum, aimed at continuing to empower World Heritage site managers on the international stage.

It aims to expand beneficial networking opportunities, facilitate the exchange of expertise and knowledge to preserve shared human heritage, and review techniques for site development.

- Climate Disruption: An Existential Threat to Heritage.

However, a pressing issue looms large.

UNESCO's Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, pointed out that climate disruption poses an existential threat to world heritage.

According to the organization's reports, there is a pressing need for the provisions of the World Heritage Convention, ratified by 195 countries, to address impending challenges.

Last July, the hottest month ever recorded, witnessed coastal erosion due to flooding. Yet, global heritage protection efforts have achieved notable successes.

A UNESCO and IUCN assessment of the status of species reveals that UNESCO World Heritage sites harbor over 20 percent of mapped global species richness within just one percent of the Earth's surface.

During her meeting in Riyadh with around 3,000 participants in the heritage and antiquities sector, Azoulay mentioned that UNESCO has dispatched teams to countries recently affected by harsh climatic conditions, such as Madagascar, Pakistan, Cuba, and Peru, for assessment and preparation for reconstruction.

The Heritage Emergency Fund supports the missions, said Azoulay, emphasizing that the world needs to be better prepared, noting that every manager of World Heritage sites will receive training on climate adaptation strategies by 2025.

- How Are Heritage Sites Evaluated?

The World Heritage List comprises 1,157 heritage sites spread across 167 countries of various categories, including cultural, natural, and mixed areas.

The World Heritage Committee meets once a year and consists of representatives from 21 of the states parties to the Convention elected by their General Assembly. It is responsible for implementing the World Heritage Convention, defining the use of the World Heritage Fund, and allocating financial assistance upon requests from states.

It has the final say on whether a property is inscribed on the World Heritage List and examines reports on the state of conservation of inscribed properties and asks states parties to act when properties are not adequately managed.

It also decides on the inscription or deleting properties on the List of World Heritage in danger.

The selection criteria of the Committee ensure that the site represents a masterpiece of human creative genius and exhibits an important interchange of human values over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world.

It must also bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization that is living, or which has disappeared or be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble, or landscape that illustrates a significant stage in human history.

As for natural sites, they must contain the most significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity, including those containing threatened species of outstanding universal value from the point of view of science or conservation.

- Youth Forum Enhances their Role in the Sector

Seminars and workshops discussing heritage topics and challenges are held within an international forum hosted by Saudi Arabia. The aim is to advance the role of young professionals in the heritage sector, paving the way for a promising generation of specialists in the field.

The outcomes of the Forum are set to be presented as a youth declaration at the extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh.

For approximately ten days, while visiting heritage landmarks in Saudi cities rich in architectural heritage and human legacy, the Forum explores opportunities for professionals and specialists.

It delves into the impacts of climate change, digital dimensions, and the promotion of diversity and sustainable tourism intersecting with human heritage worldwide.

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Culture

Visual Arts Commission Announces 'Bedayat: Beginnings of Saudi Art Movement' Exhibition

Visual Arts Commission Announces 'Bedayat: Beginnings of Saudi Art Movement' Exhibition
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Visual Arts Commission Announces 'Bedayat: Beginnings of Saudi Art Movement' Exhibition

Visual Arts Commission Announces 'Bedayat: Beginnings of Saudi Art Movement' Exhibition

The Visual Arts Commission has announced "Bedayat: Beginnings of Saudi Art Movement"—a seminal exhibition that celebrates and documents the formative years of Saudi Arabia's art scene and the emergence of a pioneering generation of artists between the 1960s and 1980s, SPA reported.

The exhibition will be on view from January 27 through April 11, 2026, at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh.
The exhibition traces the evolution of artistic practices in the Kingdom, as shaped by the cultural, social, and economic transformations that began in the mid-twentieth century.

Extensive research initiated by the Visual Arts Commission—encompassing more than 80 site visits as well as 120 comprehensive artist reports and recordings from 50 interviews—informs the exhibition. Developed with an advisory team that includes artist Abdulrahman Alsuliman, Dr. Mohammed Alrusais, and Dr. Charbel Dagher, the research draws on academic expertise alongside firsthand accounts from artists and key figures of the period to capture early exhibition history, educational activity, and the locally-rooted language of expression that emerged during these decades.

Curated by Qaswra Hafez, the exhibition spans painting, sculpture, works on paper, and diverse archival materials—many exhibited publicly for the first time. Focusing on the pivotal decades of the 1960s through 1980s, it charts how practitioners of this generation engaged Saudi Arabia’s deep-rooted heritage while participating in international artistic exchange. Developing distinctive visual languages that brought modernist currents into dialogue with local contexts, they established cultural institutions and artist networks via grassroots initiatives alongside public and private patronage and support for the visual arts.

Presented at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in the historic Al Murabba’a district, the exhibition brings together the work of key figures across three decades, highlighting a pivotal period in which modern and abstract artistic practices emerged within the Kingdom.

Bedayat: Beginnings of Saudi Art Movement is structured in three parts: the Foundation of the Modern Art Movement in Saudi Arabia, which studies the emergence of the visual arts scene in the interplay between individual initiative and state support; Currents of Modernity, which explores the artistic concerns that shaped Saudi artistic production; and Modernist Pioneers, which spotlights four artists—Mohammed Al-Saleem, Safeya Binzagr, Mounirah Mosly, and Abdulhalim Radwi.

Reflecting on the significance of the exhibition, CEO of the Visual Arts Commission Dina Amin stated: “We celebrate here the history of modern art in Saudi Arabia, and we are proud to foreground its rich legacy by honoring the pioneering figures as well as the public and private initiatives whose collective efforts shaped the art scene of this era. We hope this exhibition contributes to an enduring continuum, offering meaningful access to the depth and diversity of our visual arts history.”

Curator of the exhibition Qaswra Hafez said: “Through Bedayat, we are presenting a comprehensive and research-driven account of Saudi modern art. Through archival study, pioneering artworks, and firsthand narratives, we are preserving the foundations of our modern art movement for future generations. This project is both a tribute to our early artists and a lasting cultural legacy that will continue to inform and inspire audiences across the Kingdom and beyond.”

Bedayat: Beginnings of Saudi Art Movement forms part of the Visual Arts Commission’s broader efforts to archive and document Saudi visual culture, advancing the historical record and supporting ongoing research in the field.

The exhibition will be followed by a comprehensive publication and an original documentary film, offering an in-depth perspective on the foundations of Saudi modern art and a long-lasting resource for the public and researchers. An extensive public program of talks, workshops, and masterclasses will further explore key themes, including early art education, the role of pioneering teachers and institutions, and archival preservation practices.

Culture

Smithsonian’s Asian Art Museum Director Highlights Cultural Exchange with Saudi Arabia's RCU

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) logo
The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) logo
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Smithsonian’s Asian Art Museum Director Highlights Cultural Exchange with Saudi Arabia's RCU

The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) logo
The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) logo

National Museum of Asian Art Director at the Smithsonian Institution Chase Robinson discussed cooperation with the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) to promote cultural exchange and mutual understanding between museum professionals and researchers in Saudi Arabia and the United States, while expanding global knowledge of the heritage and ancient civilizations of the northern Arabian Peninsula.

In an interview with the Saudi Press Agency, Robinson described the museum’s relationship with the Kingdom as “long-standing,” formalized through a memorandum of understanding signed in May 2025 with the RCU.

He stressed that the agreement “is built on many years of relations with the Kingdom” and reflects both institutions’ commitment to preserving cultural heritage and boosting cultural exchange between the two countries.

He noted that the agreement marks the beginning of a new chapter of constructive cooperation, highlighting the pivotal role of arts and heritage in strengthening cultural dialogue among peoples of different regions and historical backgrounds, and in making AlUla’s heritage accessible to the world, thereby supporting the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.

Robinson indicated that the collaboration between the museum and the RCU includes key components such as designing an exhibition centered on the recently discovered monumental statue at the archaeological site of Dadan, conducting scientific research and conservation studies on the newly discovered statue, and examining the archaeological context and historical development of the Dadan site and its connection to the city of AlUla.

He added that the project is expected to culminate in an exhibition likely to be held in 2029.

The museum, which opened in 1923 as the first national art museum in the United States and the country’s first museum dedicated to Asian art, houses collections of Islamic art from Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Notable recent exhibitions include “Roads of Arabia: Archaeology and History of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” (2012–2013) and “The Art of the Quran” (2016).

Culture

Culture Being Strangled by Kosovo's Political Crisis

The cinema has been waiting for much-needed repairs for years. Armend NIMANI / AFP
The cinema has been waiting for much-needed repairs for years. Armend NIMANI / AFP
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Culture Being Strangled by Kosovo's Political Crisis

The cinema has been waiting for much-needed repairs for years. Armend NIMANI / AFP
The cinema has been waiting for much-needed repairs for years. Armend NIMANI / AFP

Kosovo's oldest cinema has been dark and silent for years as the famous theater slowly disintegrates under a leaky roof.

Signs warn passers-by in the historic city of Prizren that parts of the Lumbardhi's crumbling facade could fall while it waits for its long-promised refurbishment.

"The city deserves to have the cinema renovated and preserved. Only junkies gathering there benefit from it now," nextdoor neighbor butcher Arsim Futko, 62, told AFP.

For seven years, it waited for a European Union-funded revamp, only for the money to be suddenly withdrawn with little explanation.

Now it awaits similar repairs promised by the national government that has since been paralyzed by inconclusive elections in February.

And it is anyone's guess whether the new government that will come out of Sunday's snap election will keep the promise.

'Collateral damage'

Cinema director Ares Shporta said the cinema has become "collateral damage" in a broader geopolitical game after the EU hit his country with sanctions in 2023.

The delayed repairs "affected our morale, it affected our lives, it affected the trust of the community in us," Shporta said.

Brussels slapped Kosovo with sanctions over heightened tensions between the government and the ethnic Serb minority that live in parts of the country as Pristina pushed to exert more control over areas still tightly linked to Belgrade.

Cultural institutions have been among the hardest-hit sectors, as international funding dried up and local decisions were stalled by the parliamentary crisis.

According to an analysis by the Kosovo think tank, the GAP Institute for Advanced Studies, sanctions have resulted in around 613 million euros ($719 million) being suspended or paused, with the cultural sector taking a hit of 15-million-euro hit.

'Ground zero'

With political stalemate threatening to drag on into another year, there are warnings that further funding from abroad could also be in jeopardy.

Since February's election when outgoing premier Albin Kurti topped the polls but failed to win a majority, his caretaker government has been deadlocked with opposition lawmakers.

Months of delays, spent mostly without a parliament, meant little legislative work could be done.

Ahead of the snap election on Sunday, the government said that more than 200 million euros ($235 million) will be lost forever due to a failure to ratify international agreements.

Once the top beneficiary of the EU Growth Plan in the Balkans, Europe's youngest country now trails most of its neighburs, the NGO Group for Legal and Political Studies' executive director Njomza Arifi told AFP.

"While some of the countries in the region have already received the second tranches, Kosovo still remains at ground zero."

Although there have been some enthusiastic signs of easing a half of EU sanctions by January, Kurti's continued push against Serbian institutions and influence in the country's north continues to draw criticism from both Washington and Brussels.

'On the edge'

Across the river from the Lumbardhi, the funding cuts have also been felt at Dokufest, a documentary and short film festival that draws people to the region.

"The festival has had to make staff cuts. Unfortunately, there is a risk of further cuts if things don't change," Dokufest artistic director Veton Nurkollari said.

"Fortunately, we don't depend on just one source because we could end up in a situation where, when the tap is turned off, everything is turned off."

He said that many in the cultural sector were desperate for the upcoming government to get the sanctions lifted by ratification of the agreements that would allow EU funds to flow again.

"Kosovo is the only one left on the edge and without these funds."