Saudi Culture Ministry to Host Cultural Week in Greece

The landmark event will offer visitors an immersive experience of the diverse cultural heritage of the Kingdom. SPA
The landmark event will offer visitors an immersive experience of the diverse cultural heritage of the Kingdom. SPA
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Saudi Culture Ministry to Host Cultural Week in Greece

The landmark event will offer visitors an immersive experience of the diverse cultural heritage of the Kingdom. SPA
The landmark event will offer visitors an immersive experience of the diverse cultural heritage of the Kingdom. SPA

The Ministry of Culture is set to launch Saudi Cultural Week in Greece, taking place from September 27 to October 1 at the historic Zappeion Hall in Athens.

The landmark event will offer visitors an immersive experience of the diverse cultural heritage of the Kingdom, showcasing the cultural exchange between Saudi Arabia and Greece and highlighting the shared values between the two nations.

Various commissions under the Ministry of Culture and Saudi cultural institutions will present multiple elements of Saudi culture. Craftsmen will display traditional arts and handcrafts, including the creation of the Bisht (a traditional men's outer cloak), weaving Al Sadu (traditional textile), and crafting Mibkhara (incense burners). Workshops will be organized to highlight these traditional arts, featuring collaboration between Greek and Saudi artisans. Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in conventional weaving and experience these time-honored crafts firsthand.

Attendees will also discover traditional Saudi fashion through collections by local designers, with pieces available for purchase, allowing visitors to take home a piece of Saudi fashion heritage. The Saudi fashion exhibition will also highlight contemporary designs and display attires from renowned creators in the field.

Throughout the five-day event, visitors can explore an exhibition of replicas of Saudi Arabia's historical artifacts, offering a glimpse into the Kingdom's vast heritage. Additionally, another exhibition will feature rare manuscripts that highlight the linguistic legacy of the Arabic language.

The event will include culinary experiences, with Saudi chefs conducting live cooking demonstrations of popular traditional dishes from the Kingdom. Saudi coffee, a cultural symbol of Saudi hospitality, will be served to visitors, and a boutique store will display Saudi food products such as dates and Madinah dried rose.

Moreover, the event will feature live performances of traditional Saudi music, dance, performing arts, and theater, showcasing the Kingdom's rich musical and performance arts heritage. Visitors can also enjoy screenings of popular Saudi short films.

Saudi Cultural Week in Greece aims to celebrate and encourage cultural dialogue and collaboration, featuring a variety of activities and exhibitions that showcase the Kingdom's cultural heritage, contemporary art, and culinary artistry. The event will provide a platform for shared cultural values and ongoing cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Greece.



Saudi SDAIA Signs MoU with NAVER LABS and NAVER CLOUD to Develop Arabic Large Language Model 

The MoU was formalized during the third Global AI Summit (GAIN) in Riyadh. (SPA)
The MoU was formalized during the third Global AI Summit (GAIN) in Riyadh. (SPA)
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Saudi SDAIA Signs MoU with NAVER LABS and NAVER CLOUD to Develop Arabic Large Language Model 

The MoU was formalized during the third Global AI Summit (GAIN) in Riyadh. (SPA)
The MoU was formalized during the third Global AI Summit (GAIN) in Riyadh. (SPA)

The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) signed on Tuesday a MoU with NAVER LABS and NAVER CLOUD to design an advanced language model for Arabic and its applications.

The MoU was formalized during the third Global AI Summit (GAIN) in Riyadh. It was signed on behalf of SDAIA by National Information Center Director Dr. Esam Alwagait, while Dr. Sangok Seok and Dr. Yoon Kim represented NAVER CLOUD and Dr. Choi Soo-Yeon represented NAVER Corporation.

The signing was hosted by SDAIA President Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghamdi and South Korea’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Choi-Byung- Huyk.

The partnership aims to employ the latest technical developments related to developing an Arabic language model to provide data-center solutions and services, in addition to participating in the cloud platform for digital transformation solutions.

Through a set of applications that use AI algorithms, SDAIA is focusing on boosting the position of the Arabic language in the field of AI.

The authority, in cooperation with the King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language, recently prepared a dictionary of data and AI to collect the most important technical terms and provide brief and simplified definitions in both Arabic and English.

SDAIA also prepared the "Your Voice" application, which enables the conversion of speech into text via a voice recognition feature in classical Arabic and local dialects, which can be used to record minutes of meetings and build interactive audio systems.

During the second Global AI Summit held in 2022, SDAIA launched the "ALLaM" application to serve the Arabic language and improve language models using the application in various fields, including: developing a model capable of writing and understanding Arabic poetry, developing an AI model capable of accurately parsing Arabic sentences, and developing a model that helps children learn the Arabic language in a fun and effective way.