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.



Japan’s Sado Mines Added to World Heritage List

This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)
This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)
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Japan’s Sado Mines Added to World Heritage List

This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)
This photo taken on May 9, 2022 shows a mine on Sado island. (AFP)

A network of mines on a Japanese island infamous for using conscripted wartime labor was added to UNESCO's World Heritage register Saturday after South Korea dropped earlier objections to its listing.

The Sado gold and silver mines, now a popular tourist attraction, are believed to have started operating as early as the 12th century and produced until after World War II.

Japan had put a case for World Heritage listing because of their lengthy history and the artisanal mining techniques used there at a time when European mines had turned to mechanization.

The proposal was opposed by Seoul when it was first put because of the use of involuntary Korean labor during World War II, when Japan occupied the Korean peninsula.

UNESCO confirmed the listing of the mines at its ongoing committee meeting in New Delhi on Saturday after a bid highlighting its archaeological preservation of "mining activities and social and labor organization".

"I would like to wholeheartedly welcome the inscription... and pay sincere tribute to the long-standing efforts of the local people which made this possible," Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said in a statement.

The World Heritage effort was years in the making, inspired in part by the successful recognition of a silver mine in western Japan's Shimane region.

South Korea's foreign ministry said it had agreed to the listing "on the condition that Japan faithfully implements the recommendation... to reflect the 'full history' at the Sado Gold Mine site and takes proactive measures to that end."

Historians have argued that recruitment conditions at the mine effectively amounted to forced labor, and that Korean workers faced significantly harsher conditions than their Japanese counterparts.

"Discrimination did exist," Toyomi Asano, a professor of history of Japanese politics at Tokyo's Waseda University, told AFP in 2022.

"Their working conditions were very bad and dangerous. The most dangerous jobs were allocated to them."

Also added to the list on Saturday was the Beijing Central Axis, a collection of former imperial palaces and gardens in the Chinese capital.

The UNESCO committee meeting runs until Wednesday.