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Saudi Arabia Inaugurates its Pavilion at Beijing International Book Fair

Saudi Arabia inaugurated its pavilion as the guest of honor at the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) in China. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia inaugurated its pavilion as the guest of honor at the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) in China. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Inaugurates its Pavilion at Beijing International Book Fair

Saudi Arabia inaugurated its pavilion as the guest of honor at the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) in China. (SPA)
Saudi Arabia inaugurated its pavilion as the guest of honor at the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) in China. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia inaugurated its pavilion as the guest of honor at the Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) in China, reported the Saudi Press Agency on Wednesday.

The fair will take place from June 19 to 23 in Beijing.

The Saudi delegation, led by the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, includes representatives from various cultural entities, such as the Heritage Commission, the Culinary Arts Commission, the Ministry of Investment, the King Abdulaziz Foundation, the King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language, the King Abdulaziz Public Library, and the Saudi Publishers Association.

Saudi Arabia’s participation aims to showcase the Kingdom's cultural heritage to the Chinese audience and promote investment opportunities in the cultural sector.

CEO of the Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission, Dr. Mohammed Hasan Alwan, emphasized that the Kingdom's participation is focused on boosting cultural dialogue, strengthening the bond between the two countries, and fostering cooperation in literature and the arts.

The Kingdom's pavilion will feature a diverse cultural program, including seminars, dialogue sessions, exhibitions of books, manuscripts, artifacts from Saudi Arabia, and traditional performing arts.

A special Saudi dinner event will be hosted, featuring local dishes and performing arts from various regions of the Kingdom. Additionally, there will be displays of Saudi fashion and a section dedicated to the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Award for Cultural Cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China.

The Beijing International Book Fair, established in 1986, is organized by the China National Publications Import and Export Group and is the second-largest book fair in the world. It attracts over 2,600 exhibitors from 100 countries, making it the most influential book fair in China and Asia.

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Magritte Painting Nets Auction Record of $121 Million

Rene Magritte's "L'empire des lumières" is on display during a press preview for Christie's Fall 20/21 Marquee Week in New York, November 8, 2024. (AFP)
Rene Magritte's "L'empire des lumières" is on display during a press preview for Christie's Fall 20/21 Marquee Week in New York, November 8, 2024. (AFP)
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Magritte Painting Nets Auction Record of $121 Million

Rene Magritte's "L'empire des lumières" is on display during a press preview for Christie's Fall 20/21 Marquee Week in New York, November 8, 2024. (AFP)
Rene Magritte's "L'empire des lumières" is on display during a press preview for Christie's Fall 20/21 Marquee Week in New York, November 8, 2024. (AFP)

A painting by Rene Magritte shattered an auction record for the surrealist artist on Tuesday, selling for more than $121 million at Christie's in New York.

The seminal 1954 painting had been valued at $95 million, and the previous record for a work by Magritte (1898-1967) was $79 million, set in 2022.

After a nearly 10-minute bidding war on Tuesday, "Empire of Light" ("L'Empire des lumieres") was sold for $121,160,000, "achieving a world-record price for the artist and for a surrealist work of art at auction", according to auction house Christie's.

The painting -- depicting a house at night, illuminated by a lamp post, while under a bright, blue sky -- is one of a series by the Belgian artist showing the interplay of shadow and light.

"Empire of Light" was part of the private collection of Mica Ertegun, an interior designer who fled communist Romania to settle in the United States where she became an influential figure in the arts world.

She died in late 2023 and was married to the late Ahmet Ertegun, the music magnate who founded the Atlantic Records label.

The sale of the Magritte painting was an expected highlight of this week's autumn sales season in New York, at a time when the art market has seen a slowdown since last year.

Christie's -- which is controlled by Artemis, the investment holding company owned by the Pinault family -- said sales totaled $2.1 billion in the first half of this year.

That is down for the second straight year, after a peak of $4.1 billion in 2022 as the world emerged from the coronavirus pandemic.

During the same Christie's auction on Tuesday, a celebrated 1964 painting of a gas station by 86-year-old Ed Ruscha, titled "Standard Station, Ten-Cent Western Being Torn in Half," sold for $68.26 million, setting a new auction record for the American pop artist.