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Jeddah Historic District Program Unveils 'Culture Square' Landmark Project

Culture Square aims to enrich the visitor journey while positioning the district as a global tourist destination, in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. SPA
Culture Square aims to enrich the visitor journey while positioning the district as a global tourist destination, in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. SPA
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Jeddah Historic District Program Unveils 'Culture Square' Landmark Project

Culture Square aims to enrich the visitor journey while positioning the district as a global tourist destination, in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. SPA
Culture Square aims to enrich the visitor journey while positioning the district as a global tourist destination, in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. SPA

The Jeddah Historic District Program, under the Ministry of Culture, unveiled “Culture Square,” a landmark project designed to restore Historic Jeddah by establishing specialized centers dedicated to various artistic and cultural disciplines.

By offering immersive experiences, Culture Square aims to enrich the visitor journey while positioning the district as a global tourist destination, in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030.

Located on the shores of Al-Arbaeen Lagoon, overlooking the historic Jeddah area, Culture Square is home to the Performing Arts Center and the Digital Arts Museum "teamLab Borderless," a recipient of the Makkah Excellence Award for Cultural Excellence. The square bridges the past and present, a concept reflected in its design and purpose.

The Performing Arts Center will host a variety of cultural events, including theatrical performances, international festivals, film screenings, and sessions inspired by the spirit of "Al-Markaz." The center also features restaurants and cafes, fostering spaces for gathering and dialogue. Meanwhile, the teamLab Borderless museum embodies the contemporary essence of culture by merging art, science, and technology.

At the heart of Culture Square is the restored historic Bait Amir Al Bahar, located between the Performing Arts Center and the teamLab Borderless museum.

Overlooking Hamza Shehata Street, named after the renowned late Saudi poet, the house stands as a testament to the area's cultural richness. Known for its distinctive architectural design, the single-floor structure is surrounded by large arched windows and historically served as a lighthouse guiding ships. Its unique design reflects its historical function. The program has meticulously restored this iconic landmark, demonstrating its commitment to preserving the region's architectural and cultural heritage.

The Culture Square project showcases an architectural vision that harmoniously blends the rich traditions of historic Jeddah with forward-looking renewal. The design integrates the architectural heritage of the region with the interconnected Hijazi urban fabric, preserving its identity and cultural essence. Simultaneously, it aligns with the philosophy of the teamLab Borderless museum, which emphasizes harmony between visitors and artwork. The concept is reflected in the building’s sloping roof, which seamlessly merges with the surrounding landscapes, reinforcing the themes of integration and unity with the environment.

Spanning a total area of approximately 26,000 square meters, Culture Square comprises two main buildings. The Center for Performing Arts and Cinema, covering 16,000 square meters, serves as the headquarters of the Red Sea Film Festival. It features a grand entrance lobby, a main theater with 868 seats, five cinema halls with 564 seats, a versatile internal lobby, nine dialogue halls, a cinematheque, a restaurant, and three cafes. The teamLab Borderless museum, covering 10,000 square meters, displays around 80 interconnected works, symbolizing a world without boundaries. The innovative space blends art, technology, and nature, offering a transformative cultural experience and enriching the Kingdom's cultural landscape.

The Historic Jeddah Program prioritized public health and environmental sustainability in designing and implementing Culture Square. The project incorporates advanced air conditioning systems with 100% air purification technology, touchless elevators and escalators with ultraviolet sterilization, and a water conservation system that recycles condensate water from cooling units for irrigation purposes. These measures enhance resource efficiency and demonstrate the program's commitment to environmental preservation.

The launch of Culture Square is a significant milestone in the Historic Jeddah Program’s efforts to restore the area, preserve its tangible and intangible heritage, and enhance the visitor experience. With its careful preservation of the urban fabric and a design that seamlessly blends contemporary architecture with heritage-inspired elements, the square serves as a distinctive cultural and visual landmark in Jeddah. The project reflects a broader vision to invest in the area's history and cultural assets, transforming them into economic tributaries and establishing the region as a prominent destination on the global tourism map.

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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.