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Saudi Culture Ministry, King Saud University Launch Kingdom’s First College of Arts

The Saudi Ministry of Culture logo
The Saudi Ministry of Culture logo
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Saudi Culture Ministry, King Saud University Launch Kingdom’s First College of Arts

The Saudi Ministry of Culture logo
The Saudi Ministry of Culture logo

The Ministry of Culture, in a strategic partnership with King Saud University in Riyadh, inaugurated the College of Arts at the university, marking the first specialized Saudi college dedicated to arts education in the Kingdom.
The inauguration ceremony took place on Sunday at the university theater in the presence of Deputy Minister of Culture Hamed bin Mohammed Fayez and President of King Saud University Dr. Badran bin Abdulrahman Al-Omar, along with culture and arts enthusiasts across the Kingdom.
In his speech during the ceremony, Fayez affirmed that the new College of Arts reflects the importance attached by Culture Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan to education and its role in cultural growth.

He emphasized the role of education in the development and advancement of the cultural sector under Saudi Vision 2030.
Fayez further noted that the establishment of the college is a significant milestone in the development of higher cultural education in the Kingdom, with a substantial impact on national cultural development. He highlighted that this step will lay the foundation for an academic path required for nurturing creative talents and fostering cultural advancement.
Fayez said the establishment of the college is part of the strategic partnership between the Culture Ministry and King Saud University, representing one of the first tangible outcomes of the collaborative efforts made with local universities. These efforts aim to achieve the objectives of the National Strategy for Culture and the strategy for the development of cultural capacities derived from it. The goal is to meet the demands of the job market and provide highly competent cultural professionals who will lead the sector towards achieving ambitious national goals.
Fayez stated that the college is launching with three departments dedicated to the specialties of design, performing arts, and visual arts. He emphasized that this is “[just] the beginning of a continuous scientific and cultural cooperation with King Saud University and our other prestigious national universities.”
After the ceremony, the attendees visited the accompanying exhibition of the newly launched college, where they learned about the Saudi cultural sector and the available opportunities for students to develop their capabilities and pursue careers in cultural professions.

They also learned about the objectives of launching the first college of arts in the Kingdom, which include offering high-quality specialized academic programs adhering to national and international standards. Additionally, the college aims to establish a supportive educational and artistic environment for research and innovation, attracting exceptional and talented students based on specific admission criteria.

The college also seeks to prepare graduates who are technically, scientifically, and professionally qualified. The college is assigned to conduct specialized research and scientific studies in the field of arts.

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Culture

Vatican Returns to Canada Artifacts Connected to Indigenous People

A pair of gauntlets made in the late 19th-century Cree-Metif native Canadian traditional style by indigenous activist Gregory Scofield. Gregory Scofield, AP
A pair of gauntlets made in the late 19th-century Cree-Metif native Canadian traditional style by indigenous activist Gregory Scofield. Gregory Scofield, AP
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Vatican Returns to Canada Artifacts Connected to Indigenous People

A pair of gauntlets made in the late 19th-century Cree-Metif native Canadian traditional style by indigenous activist Gregory Scofield. Gregory Scofield, AP
A pair of gauntlets made in the late 19th-century Cree-Metif native Canadian traditional style by indigenous activist Gregory Scofield. Gregory Scofield, AP

The Vatican on Saturday returned 62 artifacts connected to the Indigenous peoples of Canada to the country's Catholic bishops, offering what it called "a concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity", a statement said.

Pope Leo gifted the objects to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops following a meeting with their representatives including their president, Bishop Pierre Goudreault, said Reuters.

"The CCCB will proceed, as soon as possible, to transfer these artifacts to the National Indigenous Organizations (NIOs). The NIOs will then ensure that the artifacts are reunited with their communities of origin," the Canadian bishops said.

Catholic missionaries sent the artifacts to Rome on the occasion of a 1925 exhibition held by Pope Pius XI that displayed more than 100,000 objects. Nearly half of them later formed a new Missionary Ethnological Museum and were transferred to the Vatican Museums in the 1970s.

In 2022, the late Pope Francis issued a historic apology to Canada's Indigenous peoples ahead of his visit to the country for the Catholic Church's role in residential schools where many children suffered abuse and were buried in unmarked graves.

The repatriation of the native artifacts held at the Vatican Museums was also part of the talks between the Church and the Indigenous leaders.

Culture

Rebooted Harlem Museum Celebrates Rise of Black Art

To mark its reopening, the Studio Museum is mounting a retrospective on Ton Lloyd, whose works were shown in the museum's 1968 inaugural show. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
To mark its reopening, the Studio Museum is mounting a retrospective on Ton Lloyd, whose works were shown in the museum's 1968 inaugural show. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
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Rebooted Harlem Museum Celebrates Rise of Black Art

To mark its reopening, the Studio Museum is mounting a retrospective on Ton Lloyd, whose works were shown in the museum's 1968 inaugural show. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
To mark its reopening, the Studio Museum is mounting a retrospective on Ton Lloyd, whose works were shown in the museum's 1968 inaugural show. TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP

As the Studio Museum reopens this weekend in its gleaming new building, New York's premier institution for Black art finds itself looking back and looking forward at the same time.

Colorful signs featuring permanent works have sprouted near the museum's home in Harlem, a center point in Black life and imagination in America for more than a century, AFP said.

The museum, closed for the more than seven-year project, has commissioned new works to commemorate the reboot, which features expanded studios for the institution's artists-in-residence program.

But the 57-year-old museum is also hearkening back to its roots with a retrospective of the late Tom Lloyd, whose electronically programmed wall sculptures anticipated today's digital age.

Some of the same pieces were hung in the museum's inaugural 1968 show back when works by artists of African descent were mostly absent from New York's leading museums.

Today's art scene is very different.

Rashid Johnson, Amy Sherald and others are regularly showcased in shows at the Guggenheim, Whitney and other nameplate New York museums, which have also hosted retrospectives belatedly recognizing Black movements.

"In the time of the museum's life, we have seen this incredible trajectory and some of that is a result of the work that the museum did in its establishment and its early years," said Studio Museum director Thelma Golden, who oversaw a more than $300 million drive to finance a teardown and newbuild project that cements the museum's ties to Harlem.

"The aperture opens, but even with that, we still believe deeply in the work that continues to need to be done."

'Truly current work'

The museum's history is laid out in photos of the 1968 groundbreaking, and there are posters of jazz nights, "Uptown Friday" gatherings, high school programs and of shows such as a retrospective of James Van Der Zee, a famed photographer during the Harlem Renaissance.

The founders' ambitions included creating a place distinct from New York establishments like the Museum of Modern Art.

The Studio Museum will present "truly current work," founders wrote in 1966. The work "could turn out to be a flash in the pan or could conceivably begin an entire new school or new direction in art."

Backers also sought to redefine Harlem, "which is all too often equated with slums, violence and other evils," and to deepen the commitment of supporters -- some white -- to "make New York City a united city rather than one which is currently divided by an invisible Berlin wall."

Key turning points included 1981, when the Studio Museum broke ground at its current address at 144 West 125th Street.

Another shift came after Golden joined in 2000, when the mission statement was expanded beyond US-born creators to artists of African descent "locally, nationally and internationally."

Signature works

That broadened scope is boldly expressed on the building's exterior with a red, black and green flag by David Hammons inspired by the Pan-African flag of the 1920s associated with activist Marcus Garvey.

Another signature work is Houston Conwill's "The Joyful Mysteries," containing statements by seven prominent Black Americans written for future generations. The time capsules will be opened in September 2034, 50 years after their creation.

The new edifice itself nods to Harlem's architectural vernacular, with a mass of geometries in gray concrete and glass. The building has received rapturous reviews, and this weekend offers the public a first look.

Golden described the site as aiming to "redefine what a museum can be in its space and content."

She credited her predecessors, not all of whom lived to see Black art achieve mainstream acceptance.

"I am well aware that they did not get to see the fruits of the labor," Golden told AFP. "The inheritance I have from them is that they believed so deeply that that belief carries from '68 to this moment."

Culture

China Showcases Rich Heritage with Live Craft Demonstrations at Saudi Int’l Handicrafts Week

The Chinese pavilion is offering live demonstrations where craftspeople showcase a diverse range of traditional arts. (SPA)
The Chinese pavilion is offering live demonstrations where craftspeople showcase a diverse range of traditional arts. (SPA)
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China Showcases Rich Heritage with Live Craft Demonstrations at Saudi Int’l Handicrafts Week

The Chinese pavilion is offering live demonstrations where craftspeople showcase a diverse range of traditional arts. (SPA)
The Chinese pavilion is offering live demonstrations where craftspeople showcase a diverse range of traditional arts. (SPA)

As the guest of honor at the Saudi International Handicrafts Week (Banan), the Chinese pavilion is offering live demonstrations where craftspeople showcase a diverse range of traditional arts integral to China's heritage, including wood carving, purple clay pottery, embroidery, weaving, metalwork, and folk crafts like shadow puppetry, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Saturday.

The artisans embody a civilizational philosophy that finds beauty in the details, combining respect for nature, ancient techniques, and contemporary innovation. Their demonstrations illustrate the intricate processes of drawing on wood, transforming clay into vibrant pottery, and weaving threads, feathers, and paper into stories passed down through time.

This unique participation represents a living cultural bridge between Saudi Arabia and China.

Visitors are invited to discover the depth and richness of Chinese civilization and witness how handicrafts can serve as a common human language that transcends both time and borders.