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Saudi Arabia Inscribes Cultural Practices Related to Taif Roses on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List

The move reflects Saudi Arabia's commitment to preserving intangible cultural heritage, ensuring its sustainability, and passing it on to future generations - SPA
The move reflects Saudi Arabia's commitment to preserving intangible cultural heritage, ensuring its sustainability, and passing it on to future generations - SPA
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Saudi Arabia Inscribes Cultural Practices Related to Taif Roses on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List

The move reflects Saudi Arabia's commitment to preserving intangible cultural heritage, ensuring its sustainability, and passing it on to future generations - SPA
The move reflects Saudi Arabia's commitment to preserving intangible cultural heritage, ensuring its sustainability, and passing it on to future generations - SPA

Saudi Minister of Culture and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Heritage Commission Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan announced that Saudi Arabia has successfully inscribed "the cultural practices related to Taif roses" on the United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Prince Badr stressed that the unlimited support provided by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, to the Saudi cultural sector has significantly boosted the global presence of Saudi culture. This registration, he added, reflects Saudi Arabia's commitment to preserving intangible cultural heritage, ensuring its sustainability, and passing it on to future generations, SPA reported.
The Taif rose joins other elements of Saudi intangible cultural heritage inscribed on the list, including Alardah, Majlis, Arabic coffee, falconry, Al-Qatt Al-Asiri, date palm, Sadu weaving, Arabic calligraphy, Alheda'a, Khawlani coffee, metal engraving, and the Harees dish.
Taif roses are a vital cultural and social element intertwined with the lives of the people of Taif. Their cultivation, which spans centuries, and processing are integral to daily activities, deeply reflected in the region's social and traditional practices. Community members gather in the rose fields to partake in the harvest, creating an opportunity for social interaction and the intergenerational transfer of agricultural wisdom.
Taif rose products, particularly rose water and essential oils, play a key role in social events and local traditions. The annual Taif Rose Festival serves as a vibrant celebration where residents and visitors come together to honor this rich heritage, allowing the local community to showcase its products and host events that emphasize pride in cultural identity.
The inscription of the Taif rose with UNESCO underscores its significance as a cherished aspect of Saudi culture and contributes to a global understanding of the intricate connections between cultural heritage and social practices. It aligns with the Heritage Commission's commitment to preserving this cultural legacy and promoting international cultural exchange, a key objective of the National Strategy for Culture under the framework of the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

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Iran Artist's Vision For Culture Hub Enlivens Rustic District

Arabesque patterns feature in Yazdi's creations © ATTA KENARE / AFP
Arabesque patterns feature in Yazdi's creations © ATTA KENARE / AFP
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Iran Artist's Vision For Culture Hub Enlivens Rustic District

Arabesque patterns feature in Yazdi's creations © ATTA KENARE / AFP
Arabesque patterns feature in Yazdi's creations © ATTA KENARE / AFP

In the winding alleys of southern Iran, artist Adel Yazdi has taken it upon himself to turn his rustic old neighbourhood into a cultural and tourist hub through vibrant paintings and carved relief faces.

Narenjestan, a neighbourhood characterized by crumbling, uninhabited houses, is nestled in Shiraz, a southern city celebrated for its historic architecture, lush gardens and revered poets.

"Most of the dilapidated walls in old Shiraz have no historical value," said Yazdi, a bushy-bearded, bespectacled 40-year-old artist who has dedicated himself to revitalising Narenjestan, AFP reported.

Yazdi has over the years turned the long-neglected neighbourhood walls into a vivid visual tapestry "telling the stories of the people living here," he said.

Arabesque patterns and relief faces carved with intricate details and painted in an array of vivid hues of greens, pinks, blues and purples now adorn the walls.

With its striking designs and bright colors, Yazdi's art can be reminiscent of Surrealism. It often comes across as surprising, showcasing a different side of Iran's artistic heritage that goes beyond the conventional focus on Persian or Islamic architecture.

The artwork includes the face of Scheherazade, Yazdi said, referencing the legendary storyteller from the "One Thousand and One Nights" collection of folktales.

Yazdi's work stands out in Shiraz where graffiti and murals are rare, becoming a social media sensation and a tourist attraction.

One visitor, Mahdieh, discovered Yazdi's murals through Instagram.

"I arrived in Shiraz yesterday... and it was the first site I wanted to visit," said the 40-year-old, who declined to give her last name.

At the end of one alleyway, Yazdi has established his workshop in a century-old building with small rooms encircling a serene garden.

He also lives in the building, with a traditional Persian architectural style.

It is filled with artefacts and sculptures, resembling a museum warehouse.

To Maedah, a 30-year-old engineer, Yazdi's house brings to mind "other historical places in the city, such as the Eram Garden and the Mausoleum of the Poet Hafez".

Yazdi said he drew inspiration from the Pompidou Center in Paris, a cultural hub that transformed the heart of the French capital in the 1970s.

He hopes his efforts can turn Shiraz's alleyways into even more of a vibrant cultural center as well.

At his residence, visitors are particularly drawn to what Yazdi calls "the Finger Room."

Inside, he installed around 14,000 finger sculptures on the ceiling, all pointing downward.

"The room is inspired by the legend of an angel that counts raindrops with thousands of fingers," he said, referring to an Islamic fable.

"These fingers are there to constantly remind us that the present moment is precious and that we must seize it."