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‘Year of The Camel’ Saudi Initiative Celebrates Arabian Peninsula’s Cultural Heritage

‘Year of The Camel’ Saudi Initiative Celebrates Arabian Peninsula’s Cultural Heritage
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‘Year of The Camel’ Saudi Initiative Celebrates Arabian Peninsula’s Cultural Heritage

‘Year of The Camel’ Saudi Initiative Celebrates Arabian Peninsula’s Cultural Heritage

Saudi Arabia is celebrating 2024 as the “Year of The Camel” to honor the special cultural role of the camel, known as the “ship of the desert.”

The year-long initiative will showcase the camel’s importance through various cultural, literary, recreational, and sports events organized by the Ministry of Culture and its partners.

The camel has been a key part of life in the Arabian Peninsula for centuries, influencing its culture, society, and economy. Despite modern advancements, the camel continues to symbolize the region’s traditions and values.

The ministry has kicked off the “Year of The Camel” with a series of events across the Kingdom. This initiative celebrates the camel’s long-standing role in Saudi life and explores its cultural and historical significance.

At the ministry’s pavilion in City Walk, part of Jeddah Season, visitors can enjoy a unique exhibit with seven sections. The display highlights the camel's cultural importance, traditional practices, historical legacy, and economic value, while promoting international cultural exchange.

Visitors at the “Year of the Camel” exhibition at the Madinah Book Fair. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Fahad Shaheen, a guide at the ministry’s pavilion in City Walk, Jeddah, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the exhibit is attracting more visitors daily from diverse backgrounds.

People are eager to experience camel sounds, view rock carvings, and learn about camel names and decorations.

In Madinah, the “Year of The Camel” pavilion at the Book Fair, which opened on Tuesday, offers a 3D display of camel features, names, and historical significance. It invites visitors to explore the importance of camels in Arabian culture and showcases different camel breeds and their unique traits.

Visitors are seen at the “Year of the Camel” exhibition at the Madinah Book Fair. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia is actively working to develop its camel industry by raising awareness of camels' role in providing food and livelihood.

Efforts include increasing production, fighting diseases with regular vaccinations, and improving marketing of camel products to raise breeders’ income. The country is also partnering with international organizations to update regulations and systems related to camel activities.

A parade by the Saudi Camel Club during the Kingdom’s 93rd National Day. (SPA)

Moreover, Saudi Arabia has joined the United Nations FAO in launching the “International Year of the Camelids - 2024.”

This initiative underscores the Kingdom’s focus on camels for food security and economic growth. To highlight the camel’s role in culture and society, Saudi Arabia introduced the “Camel Studies Grant,” covering six key areas related to camels.

The Kingdom takes pride in its rich and diverse cultural history, which is a key part of its national identity. Saudi Arabia blends tradition with modernity, offering a unique cultural experience and a deep historical legacy to the world.

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Culture

Saudi Culture Minister Inaugurates Kingdom's Pavilion as Guest of Honor at Damascus Book Fair

Saudi Culture Minister Inaugurates Kingdom's Pavilion as Guest of Honor at Damascus Book Fair
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Saudi Culture Minister Inaugurates Kingdom's Pavilion as Guest of Honor at Damascus Book Fair

Saudi Culture Minister Inaugurates Kingdom's Pavilion as Guest of Honor at Damascus Book Fair

Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, who is the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission Board Chairman, has inaugurated the Kingdom’s pavilion as guest of honor at the 2026 Damascus International Book Fair.

The inauguration took place on Thursday in the Syrian capital in the presence of Syrian Minister of Culture Mohammed Yassin Saleh and his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad bin Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The Kingdom's participation as guest of honor at the fair, which runs until February 16, stems from the role culture plays within Saudi Vision 2030.

Literature, Publishing, and Translation Commission Chief Executive Dr. Abdul Latif Al-Wasil affirmed that the Kingdom's presence as guest of honor at the fair reflects its leading role in the Arab cultural landscape and embodies its belief in the role of culture as a bridge for communication, a space for dialogue, and a tool for supporting joint cultural initiatives.

He explained that the Kingdom's presence in Damascus affirms the depth of Saudi-Syrian relations, based on partnership and mutual respect, and stems from the Kingdom's commitment to strengthening cultural exchange.

The Kingdom's pavilion showcases the cultural and creative diversity of the Saudi cultural and literary scene through a comprehensive cultural program that includes intellectual seminars, poetry evenings, a manuscripts exhibition, a Saudi fashion corner, a hospitality corner, and a corner displaying archaeological replicas, in addition to Saudi performing arts performances that express the depth of the Kingdom's cultural heritage.

The pavilion offers visitors to the exhibition the opportunity to explore aspects of Saudi culture in its literary, heritage, and human dimensions within a cultural experience presented in a unifying Arab spirit, affirming that culture remains one of the most effective means of fostering understanding and building shared meaning.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met on Thursday with Prince Badr at the Conference Palace in Damascus.

The meeting was attended on the Saudi side by Advisor at the Royal Court Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri, along with other officials.

Culture

AlUla Consolidates Its Position as a Premier Global Cultural and Arts Destination

AlUla boasts a rich, diverse cultural and artistic landscape - SPA
AlUla boasts a rich, diverse cultural and artistic landscape - SPA
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AlUla Consolidates Its Position as a Premier Global Cultural and Arts Destination

AlUla boasts a rich, diverse cultural and artistic landscape - SPA
AlUla boasts a rich, diverse cultural and artistic landscape - SPA

AlUla Governorate continues to strengthen its standing as one of the world’s prominent cultural and arts destinations, drawing on a deep-rooted civilizational heritage, exceptional natural and historical assets, and an integrated cultural vision that has transformed it into a vibrant platform for artistic creativity, knowledge production, and contemporary cultural dialogue.

AlUla boasts a rich, diverse cultural and artistic landscape, including specialized exhibitions, open-air museums, and archaeological sites that host inscriptions and historical writings documenting successive human civilizations, reinforcing its status as a cultural hub that combines the authenticity of history with the vitality of contemporary artistic expression.

Throughout the year, AlUla hosts a wide range of cultural and artistic exhibitions and experiences highlighting visual arts, design, crafts, photography, and cinema, alongside distinctive artistic commissions, specialized research and publications, and artist residency programs that contribute to the production and exchange of artistic knowledge and provide platforms for creative dialogue among artists, researchers, and the public.

Open-air museums are a prominent feature of AlUla’s cultural experience, where rock inscriptions and ancient writings are found across multiple sites, serving as living testimony to a heritage spanning thousands of years. They offer visitors an immersive, educational experience in the heart of nature that brings together history, environment, and human heritage.

This cultural momentum stems from extensive international partnerships with leading cultural and arts institutions, which have supported knowledge exchange, program development, and the attraction of artists and researchers worldwide, further reinforcing AlUla’s status as a global platform for cultural and artistic production.

Today, AlUla stands as a global cultural and arts destination that unites the authenticity of the past with the vitality of the present, helping shape a contemporary cultural future that reflects the depth of human identity and enhances the Kingdom’s presence on the international cultural and arts scene.

Culture

UNESCO Recognition Inspires Hope in Afghan Artist’s City

This picture taken on January 8, 2026 shows miniature art carved on the wall of Jami Masjid, also known as the Great Mosque of Herat in Herat. (AFP)
This picture taken on January 8, 2026 shows miniature art carved on the wall of Jami Masjid, also known as the Great Mosque of Herat in Herat. (AFP)
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UNESCO Recognition Inspires Hope in Afghan Artist’s City

This picture taken on January 8, 2026 shows miniature art carved on the wall of Jami Masjid, also known as the Great Mosque of Herat in Herat. (AFP)
This picture taken on January 8, 2026 shows miniature art carved on the wall of Jami Masjid, also known as the Great Mosque of Herat in Herat. (AFP)

Hundreds of years after the celebrated painter Kamal ud-Din Behzad roamed the streets of Herat, artists in the Afghan city are finding joy and hope in his recognition by UNESCO.

Sitting cross-legged on a red carpet, artist Mohammad Younes Qane uses an ultra-fine paintbrush to trace details such as a horse's mane or the beads of a necklace.

"When I paint, I'm taken back 500 years, to the streets of Herat back then," when the rulers of the Timurid empire were patrons of artists such as Behzad, Qane said with a smile.

Since he was a teenager, the 45-year-old has been practicing Behzad's celebrated miniature art style, which inspired French artist Henri Matisse.

A contemporary of Italian masters Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli, Behzad brought a new style to Herat before settling in Tabriz, in modern-day Iran.

Celebrating his "vibrant cultural expression", the UN's cultural agency inscribed Behzad's style of miniature art on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in December.

Such recognition was "truly joyful news", coming "at a time when we are in darkness and facing very difficult conditions", Qane said.

Since the Taliban authorities returned to power in 2021 and imposed their strict interpretation of religious law, many artists have left Afghanistan.

Qane has closed his gallery and works at home, with clients now rare and exhibitions non-existent.

He sometimes climbs the hill to a white tomb believed to be Behzad's, where he finds peace.

Taliban officials have banned music in public places, as well as the representation of living things.

- 'Proud of Behzad' -

Numerous residents pointed to the increasing enforcement of the ban on showing human faces, which are a common feature of Behzad-style artworks.

"It's very sad, because we are proud of Behzad in Herat," said one resident, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

Ahmad Jawid Zargham, the former head of the provincial arts and culture department, said paintings were "simple and without soul" before Behzad.

"He introduced scenes from people's everyday life. For example, ordinary people, passersby, dervishes, mullahs, scenes of teaching girls and boys, or groups of workers busy with architecture," Zargham told AFP.

At Herat's central mosque, which is covered in blue ceramic tiles, there are delicate floral and geometric motifs created by Behzad.

But his decorated manuscripts are kept abroad, at world-renowned institutions such as New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Library in London and the Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul.

Michael Barry, a leading specialist in miniature art, said that people being deprived of their cultural patrimony was "the height of injustice".

At the same time, he remained "very aware of the care that is required to maintain these delicate works", which can easily be damaged by light exposure.

Conscious of the difficulties of repatriating Behzad's artworks, Barry instead enlarged and reproduced them in 2017 for an exhibition at Herat's citadel.

But residents can no longer view the bright autumn colors of the tree of life, a symbol often painted by Behzad, as the wooden door has been padlocked shut.

Despite welcoming the UNESCO recognition, the provincial arts and culture department did not give an explanation for its closure.

Recalling Herat's importance, Barry said the city was the "world capital of painting, poetry, music, philosophy, mathematics. The Florence of the Islamic world".

"The most important center of Islamic civilization in the 15th century endorsed figurative art," he added.

But nowadays, at the citadel, faces shown on panels about the city's history have been painted black.

Despite such measures enforced by the Taliban government's morality police, Behzad is still inspiring young Afghans.

Around a dozen women gathered in a workshop to paint miniature art scenes on glass or paper, which they sell through social media or to acquaintances.

The UNESCO recognition is motivating, said Parisa Narwan, 24, who has been unable to participate in scholarships and exhibitions abroad because it has become practically impossible to get visas.

Artists need opportunities "including international exhibitions and financial support", she said.

One of the other artists contemplated how she would address Behzad today: "I wish he could have lived now -- I would ask him to improve the women's life in Afghanistan because it is really difficult."