Saudi Arabia's Royal Commission for AlUla Launches ‘I Care’ Campaign

The I Care artwork was created by US artist David Popa. Photo: The Royal Commission for AlUla
The I Care artwork was created by US artist David Popa. Photo: The Royal Commission for AlUla
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Saudi Arabia's Royal Commission for AlUla Launches ‘I Care’ Campaign

The I Care artwork was created by US artist David Popa. Photo: The Royal Commission for AlUla
The I Care artwork was created by US artist David Popa. Photo: The Royal Commission for AlUla

The Royal Commission for AlUla has launched the I Care campaign to highlight the importance of conserving Saudi Arabia’s cultural heritage.

I Care promotes the safeguarding of the country’s rich tangible and intangible cultural assets. It highlights the importance of heritage preservation in boosting the community’s quality of life.

The project also promotes the safeguarding of cultural assets to boost economic development, in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

This ephemeral art installation enveloping the iconic Tomb of Lihyan, Son of Kuza at Hegra - Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a component of the I Care heritage conservation campaign.

Taking the form of two protective hands emerging from the sand and encircling the tomb, it symbolizes the need for collective action to conserve Saudi Arabia’s cultural heritage. The installation incorporates traditional Arabic patterns in the flowing sleeves, seamlessly blending with the natural landscape. Notably, due to its scale, the artwork can only be seen from the sky.

With collaborative efforts from the AlUla community, the I Care artwork was created by US artist David Popa using exclusively natural elements, including yellow earth from Europe and red earth from the Middle East. Over time, it will naturally fade away, serving the purpose of drawing attention to the importance of conserving Saudi Arabia’s rich heritage.



UN Puts 4th Century Gaza Monastery on Endangered Site List

The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
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UN Puts 4th Century Gaza Monastery on Endangered Site List

The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File

The Saint Hilarion complex, one of the oldest monasteries in the Middle East, has been put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in danger due to the war in Gaza, the body said Friday.
UNESCO said the site, which dates back to the fourth century, had been put on the endangered list at the demand of Palestinian authorities and cited the "imminent threats" it faced.
"It's the only recourse to protect the site from destruction in the current context," Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, told AFP, referring to the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
In December, the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict decided to grant "provisional enhanced protection" -- the highest level of immunity established by the 1954 Hague Convention -- to the site.
UNESCO had then said it was "already concerned about the state of conservation of sites, before October 7, due to the lack of adequate policies to protect heritage and culture" in Gaza.
The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 39,175 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.