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Saudi Cultural Sector Sees Growth Across Various Fields

The Riyadh International Book Fair 2023 (SPA)
The Riyadh International Book Fair 2023 (SPA)
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Saudi Cultural Sector Sees Growth Across Various Fields

The Riyadh International Book Fair 2023 (SPA)
The Riyadh International Book Fair 2023 (SPA)

A recent report on Saudi Arabia’s cultural sector shows that 2023 saw significant growth in cultural activities, including theater, film, and performance arts.
This growth is attributed to strong support and empowerment within the sector.
“The Cultural Status in Saudi Arabia 2023” report by the Kingdom’s Ministry of Culture noted that 2023 was marked by steady, gradual development rather than a sudden burst of activity.
The cultural sector has been growing steadily, reflecting the long-term impact of institutional efforts that began a few years ago.
Saudi Arabia’s cultural sector, as per the report, has grown its economic contribution by over 20%.
The sector has recovered well from the pandemic’s impact, with its contribution reaching 35 billion riyals, or 1.49% of non-oil GDP, almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
The report also revealed increased cultural activity and rising demand for cultural services and products, and highlighted promising prospects for turning cultural projects into financially successful and sustainable ventures.
In 2023, Saudi Arabia’s publishing and translation sectors had mixed results.
Literary publishing and Saudi authors’ publication rates fell to their lowest since 2019. However, Saudi authors’ international publications increased, making up 22% of the year’s literary output.
Research and scientific publishing hit a four-year high, with 405 papers in peer-reviewed journals.
Of these, 82% were by researchers from Saudi universities. International research made up 36% of contributions, while independent researchers added 7%.
The report identified several challenges requiring more effort, centered around comprehensive sustainability.
These include balancing economic, social, and environmental factors, such as addressing geographic centralization, uneven distribution of cultural activities, and ensuring equitable access for all social groups.
There is also a need for better regulations to boost investment in the cultural sector.
A major environmental challenge is protecting cultural and natural heritage from climate change.
The report highlighted the growing recognition of climate change’s threat to heritage sites and the need for proactive steps to preserve these valuable cultural and historical sites.

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Culture

Royal Commission for Makkah Draws 17.5 Million Visitors to Historical Sites

Since the strategy's launch in early 2024, the sites have attracted more than 17.5 million visitors, with a satisfaction rate of 97.5% - SPA
Since the strategy's launch in early 2024, the sites have attracted more than 17.5 million visitors, with a satisfaction rate of 97.5% - SPA
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Royal Commission for Makkah Draws 17.5 Million Visitors to Historical Sites

Since the strategy's launch in early 2024, the sites have attracted more than 17.5 million visitors, with a satisfaction rate of 97.5% - SPA
Since the strategy's launch in early 2024, the sites have attracted more than 17.5 million visitors, with a satisfaction rate of 97.5% - SPA

The Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites is implementing an integrated strategy to conserve historical and enrichment sites and transform them into sustainable cultural destinations, enhancing Makkah's position as a city of ancient heritage in line with Saudi Vision 2030.

The commission has developed and rehabilitated 28 historical sites each, documented 60 sites, opened 27 sites to visitors, and established seven visitor service centers.

Since the strategy's launch in early 2024, the sites have attracted more than 17.5 million visitors, with a satisfaction rate of 97.5%, SPA reported.

The commission has also executed more than 200 promotional announcements and prepared 65 development studies to support conservation and rehabilitation plans, achieving a 100% activation rate in implementing planned operational targets.

These efforts reflect the commission's commitment to balancing the preservation of Makkah's historical identity with modern development requirements, reinforcing the city's position as a global destination combining holiness, history, and culture.

Culture

Jazan’s Performing Arts Preserve Heritage and Showcase Regional Identity

In recent years, Jazan has witnessed increased cultural activity through festivals, creative initiatives, and support for local talent, strengthening community participation and promoting heritage preservation - SPA
In recent years, Jazan has witnessed increased cultural activity through festivals, creative initiatives, and support for local talent, strengthening community participation and promoting heritage preservation - SPA
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Jazan’s Performing Arts Preserve Heritage and Showcase Regional Identity

In recent years, Jazan has witnessed increased cultural activity through festivals, creative initiatives, and support for local talent, strengthening community participation and promoting heritage preservation - SPA
In recent years, Jazan has witnessed increased cultural activity through festivals, creative initiatives, and support for local talent, strengthening community participation and promoting heritage preservation - SPA

Jazan Region holds a distinguished place in Saudi Arabia’s cultural landscape, shaped by its rich heritage and diverse traditions, which have enriched the national cultural scene through a wide range of performing and folk arts preserved and showcased across generations.

The region’s diverse geography, including mountains, plains, coastlines, and islands, has influenced the development of unique performing arts connected to local lifestyles, agricultural seasons, and maritime activities.

These arts form a vibrant cultural heritage that has maintained its authenticity while evolving with the Kingdom’s cultural growth, SPA reported.

In recent years, Jazan has witnessed increased cultural activity through festivals, creative initiatives, and support for local talent, strengthening community participation and promoting heritage preservation.

Its folk arts remain a key expression of regional identity, reflecting its history, values, and customs while maintaining a strong presence in national events and cultural programs.

Culture

Bayeux Tapestry is at the British Museum after Secret Journey from France

Workers prepare to unload a specially designed crate (back L) carrying the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum in central London early on July 10, 2026. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
Workers prepare to unload a specially designed crate (back L) carrying the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum in central London early on July 10, 2026. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
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Bayeux Tapestry is at the British Museum after Secret Journey from France

Workers prepare to unload a specially designed crate (back L) carrying the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum in central London early on July 10, 2026. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
Workers prepare to unload a specially designed crate (back L) carrying the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum in central London early on July 10, 2026. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)

After almost 1,000 years, the Bayeux Tapestry is back on English soil.

In scenes like a heist movie in reverse, the priceless Medieval artwork was spirited into the British Museum on Friday in the dead of night, after a high-tech, tight-security operation where any slip-up could have spelled disaster.

On loan from its home in France, the tapestry will go on display at the London museum from Sept. 10 until July 2027. It's a public homecoming for a vivid visual record of the 1066 Norman invasion, the last successful conquest of England.

The tapestry's arrival in London has been widely anticipated, but due to security concerns all details of when and how it would arrive have been kept under wraps.

“It feels extraordinary that after so much work and planning and care and thought that it’s actually happening,” The Associated Press quoted British Museum Director Nicholas Cullinan as saying as he awaited the arrival after a secrecy-shrouded journey.

“It’s the first time in 1,000 years that such an important piece of British — French too — history is going to be on these shores,” he said. “It’s incredibly exciting.”

The 70-meter (230-foot) tapestry was folded accordion-style in a climate-controlled case that was placed inside a shock-absorbing cradle. That went into a truck that crossed from France on a vehicle shuttle train through the Channel Tunnel.

After an 11-hour, 350-mile (560-kilometer) trip, escorted by police, the truck backed slowly into a loading bay at the museum, where workers gingerly eased the container, the size of a small car, to the ground. Museum staff and British and French diplomats who had been watching in hushed silence broke into applause.

The priceless cargo will spend several days acclimatizing before it is carefully unpacked and unfolded for an exhibition that the museum expects to be one of the most popular in its history. Some 100,000 tickets were sold in their first day on sale this month.

“It was like trying to get tickets to Glastonbury,” Cullinan said. “I don’t take for granted that people care that much about a 1,000-year-old embroidery. I think that’s an amazing thing.”

The tapestry is a symbol of Anglo-French relations Stitched in wool thread on linen fabric, the artwork depicts the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, when William, Duke of Normandy defeated King Harald’s Anglo-Saxon army. The invasion ended Saxon rule and made William the Conqueror the first Norman king of England.

Historians believe the tapestry was commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux, William’s half brother, and was probably sewn by women in England — possibly nuns — before being taken across the Channel. It has spent most of the last millennium in the town of Bayeux in northwest France, apart from two short periods at the Louvre in Paris.

The tapestry symbolizes the sometimes fractious, intertwined histories of France and Britain, and securing the loan was a high-stakes diplomatic mission. It was announced during a state visit to the UK by French President Emmanuel Macron in July 2025. The loan coincides with renovations at the museum in Bayeux that houses it.

In return, the British Museum will loan treasures from the Sutton Hoo hoard — artifacts from a 7th century Anglo Saxon ship burial — and other items to museums in Normandy.

Retired British diplomat Peter Ricketts, who helped secure the deal as the UK’s special envoy for the tapestry, said “it’s an extraordinary mark of friendship and confidence in the UK to entrust this object to us for a year.”

“Macron, when he offered us the tapestry, I think he understood that it would have far more impact in the UK than it does in France, because it’s more fundamental to our national story,” he said. Everybody (in Britain) knows 1066.”

It's a vivid record of 11th century life and death It features 627 people and 737 animals and tells its story in 58 scenes brimming with vivid and sometimes gory detail. There are scenes of hand-to-hand combat, mutilated bodies and the unlucky Harold, felled by an arrow through his eye.

“It has an emotional richness that is really difficult to get from written sources,” said Millie Horton-Insch, project curator for the British Museum exhibition. “It just brings people closer to this history than any other object can. It’s not the same as reading a text. You are looking at something that was handled by the people who lived through it and felt compelled to record these events in this way. “

She said the document’s survival for 10 centuries despite myriad dangers — “moths, mice, mold damp, fire” — is miraculous, and may be partly due to its humble materials.

“It’s not really made of any blingy fabric,” she said. “It’s not gold, it’s not silver. There wasn’t the same temptation to cut it up and make it into vestments or repurpose it for anything.”

Some French cultural figures opposed the loan, arguing that moving the tapestry was too risky. Cullinan said the expert teams went to great lengths to ensure its safety, including making two trial runs of the journey to show it would not cause the fragile item too much stress.

“Such care has gone into it. I can’t think of a level of care for any other museum loan,” he said.
He said he understands why there are concerns.

“The tapestry arouses great interest and passion,” he said. “Which is a wonderful thing."