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Saudi Culture Ministry Gears Up for DAF Center

The Saudi Culture Ministry is gearing up to open the Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) Center
The Saudi Culture Ministry is gearing up to open the Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) Center
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Saudi Culture Ministry Gears Up for DAF Center

The Saudi Culture Ministry is gearing up to open the Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) Center
The Saudi Culture Ministry is gearing up to open the Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) Center

In collaboration with the Diriyah Company, the Saudi Culture Ministry is gearing up to open the Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) Center, the first center specializing in new media arts in the Arab region.

DAF offers an educational guided program targeting emerging artists from around the world and provides advanced tools that allow them to create their digital artworks under specialized supervision.

The Center will lead the new horizons of creative practices based on the intersection of art and sciences and technology, through education, empowerment and creating vast spaces for innovative artists from around the world.

The Center promises varied programs including a long educational initiative curated for emerging artists specialized in the new media arts. The one-year program is designed in collaboration with Le Fresnoy — Studio National des Arts Contemporains in France, and provides applicants with state-of-the-art professional equipment, a dedicated production budget, and a diverse array of multidisciplinary learning experiences including of theoretical, conceptual and technical education opportunities, as well as individual guidance by international digital artists.

The program attracts emerging innovators from around the world with a focus on candidates from the Middle East and North Africa, offering them an exceptional opportunity to work alongside the world’s most prominent artists in the field of new media and digital arts, and providing them with full support for one year to produce their artwork.

Applicants are required to be 35 years or younger, at the graduate or postgraduate completion stage, with a background in developing and creating digital and new media arts.

Located in the heart of Diriyah, the DAF Center reflects the Ministry of Culture’s commitment to preserving Saudi heritage and providing opportunities for artistic expression that contributes to enriching the prospering artistic landscape in the Kingdom, and enhancing the city’s position as an international cultural destination and a hub for new medias.

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Southern California Wildfires Claim Will Rogers Ranch, Other Landmarks

The devastation of the Palisades Fire is seen in the early morning in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
The devastation of the Palisades Fire is seen in the early morning in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
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Southern California Wildfires Claim Will Rogers Ranch, Other Landmarks

The devastation of the Palisades Fire is seen in the early morning in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)
The devastation of the Palisades Fire is seen in the early morning in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP)

Raging wildfires that continue to burn a path of destruction through Southern California claimed the Will Rogers ranch along with a number of other local landmarks in what is already the most damaging fire in Los Angeles history.

Some monuments remain unscathed, such as the famous Hollywood sign that looms above the city in the Santa Monica mountains, and the Getty Villa, a museum named for billionaire oilman J. Paul Getty that houses a collection of artifacts and antiquities.

However, the Will Rogers ranch, home to the one-time vaudeville performer who rose to fame as a syndicated newspaper columnist, "cowboy philosopher," radio personality and movie star, was gutted on Tuesday by the Palisades Fire.

State parks employees were able to remove some of the cultural and historical artifacts from the Rogers home, though the 31-room ranch house and stables are gone. All that remains are two chimneys.

It is unclear whether touchstones from Rogers' life, such as a light fixture made from a wagon wheel and a stuffed calf that a friend gave him so he could rope on rainy day, were recovered.

"When you were there, you could really feel the guy’s presence," said Ben Yagoda, author of "Will Rogers: A Biography," who became overcome with emotion while discussing the loss. "It was kept exactly how they had it. It’s just such a lovely location and it’s very, very peaceful."

Another casualty of the fire was the Topanga Ranch Motel once owned by publisher William Randolph Hearst.

In Altadena, the Eaton Fire claimed the Bunny Museum, the quirky home to more than 46,000 rabbit-themed objects that owners Candace Frazee and Steve Lubanski collected over four decades. The museum, which earned a Guinness world record for amassing the most bunny-related items, was leveled by fire on Wednesday, despite attempts by Lubanski to save it.

"The museum was the last building to burn around us as Steve so valiantly hosed the building down all night long, but when the building next door went down, it spread to the museum," the owners wrote on Instagram.

The Reel Inn, a seafood shack on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, was heavily damaged by the Palisades Fire. The restaurant known for its kitschy decor of faux sea creatures and twinkling lights was a local favorite, according to one review from Travel + Leisure.

"We are heartbroken and unsure what will be left," owners Teddy and Andy Leonard wrote on Instagram. "Hopefully, the state parks will let us rebuild when the dust settles."

The Queen Anne Victorian-style mansion Rand McNally co-founder Andrew McNally built in the late 1800s in Altadena was among the homes destroyed on Wednesday, according to video of the fire captured by ABC News.

"We aren't just losing homes -- we're losing history, culture, and pieces of our shared history," wrote Eric B. on the social media platform X.