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Saudi National Culture Strategy to Reinforce, Grow Local Innovation

Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan during the launching of the national strategy for culture. SPA
Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan during the launching of the national strategy for culture. SPA
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Saudi National Culture Strategy to Reinforce, Grow Local Innovation

Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan during the launching of the national strategy for culture. SPA
Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan during the launching of the national strategy for culture. SPA

Saudi Culture Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan has unveiled a set of new initiatives designed to transform and reinforce the cultural sector into an essential part of life in the Kingdom.

The transformation is set to aid local cultural innovation.

Speaking before a crowd of Arab delegates, officials, intellectuals, diplomats and local and international media, Prince Badr reaffirmed on Wednesday that the ministry had adopted the motion after months-long preparation and due process, ever since King Salman bin Abdulaziz issued the decree for establishing the culture ministry on July 2, 2018.

The ministry “intends to create an environment that supports national talents in all areas and sectors, and to preserve the country’s culture and wealth,” he said.

“Our country is proud of its innovators and talents who, with their works, have reached unprecedented heights and won important awards,” he said at the ceremony.

Highlighting the importance of support presented by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Prince Badr noted that the transformation strategy “marks a turning point in the history of our nation. It is rare that a nation undergoes such a massive revival of its culture, and that is exactly what is happening.”

“The transformation of arts and culture will benefit all Saudis, young and old, from every corner of our country. It will help build bridges of understanding,” he added.

“For our children, we will build a Saudi Arabia where their creative spirits can flourish, confident in their past, stepping out into the future and into the world.”

The Saudi Cabinet, a day earlier, had upheld recommendations made by the Council of Economic Affairs and Development on approving the National Culture Strategy.

The strategy will include a range of policies and initiatives, as well as a summary of the culture ministry’s previous efforts to develop the cultural sector and make it an important contributor to the national economy.

Cultural reinvigoration in the Kingdom had began with the launch of Vision 2030 by the Crown Prince in 2016.

By 2039, the culture ministry is looking to have its sector contribute 3 percent of the GDP.

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A Rare Gold Medal from the 1904 St. Louis Olympics Is up for Auction

This Nov. 2024 image provided by RR Auction shows a rare gold medal from the 1904 Olympics at the intake office of RR Auction, in Amherst, N.H. (RR Auction via AP)
This Nov. 2024 image provided by RR Auction shows a rare gold medal from the 1904 Olympics at the intake office of RR Auction, in Amherst, N.H. (RR Auction via AP)
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A Rare Gold Medal from the 1904 St. Louis Olympics Is up for Auction

This Nov. 2024 image provided by RR Auction shows a rare gold medal from the 1904 Olympics at the intake office of RR Auction, in Amherst, N.H. (RR Auction via AP)
This Nov. 2024 image provided by RR Auction shows a rare gold medal from the 1904 Olympics at the intake office of RR Auction, in Amherst, N.H. (RR Auction via AP)

A gold medal awarded to the winner of the 110-meter hurdles at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics, the first Games hosted on US soil, is being auctioned off as part of hundreds of lots of memorabilia representing various Olympics over the decades.

The medal bears the inscription "Olympiad, 1904" and shows a victorious athlete holding a wreath on the front. On the other side, Nike, the goddess of victory in ancient Greek mythology, is shown alongside Zeus, the pantheon's king of gods, and the words for the hurdles event it was awarded. The medal, awarded to American Fred Schule, includes the original ribbon and leather case.

This was the first Olympics where gold medals were awarded and the Americans took advantage, winning 78 of 96 events. Unlike Olympic medals these days which are mostly made of silver with gold plating, these were smaller and made entirely of gold.

Bobby Eaton, an Olympic specialist at Boston-based RR Auction, said it is unusual for a medal of this kind to come up for auction though this particular one came from Schule's family’s collection.

"No one really knows exactly how many 1904 Olympic gold medals are still out there," Eaton said. "What we do know is they’re exceedingly rare. Of the roughly 100 gold medals awarded in St. Louis, many have been lost to time or are tucked away in private collections and museums."

Beyond the gold medals, the 1904 Games also were remembered for plenty of controversy and oddities.

The Games were originally awarded to Chicago, but organizers of the World’s Fair in St. Louis feared competition for attendance and protested against a second international event held simultaneously. Fair organizers threatened to host their own athletic events. It took the founder of the modern Olympic movement, Pierre de Coubertin, to forge peace by moving the Olympics 300 miles (483 kilometers) south.

If that drama weren't enough, Fred Lorz looked to have won the marathon race until it was discovered he rode partway in a car.

Organizers ran "Anthropology Days," when members of indigenous tribes from across the globe on hand for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the formal name of the St. Louis World's Fair, were plucked from the fair and told to compete with no warning.

The Games also saw the debut of boxing and freestyle wrestling, sports that have clung to the Summer Olympics until the present day, along with long-since-forgotten croquet and tug-of-war events.

"These medals aren’t just about the competition — they’re a snapshot of the early days of the modern Olympics," Eaton said. "To have one like this, in such exceptional condition, is truly remarkable and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for collectors."

The sale is part of hundreds of Olympic items that were up for sale at the auction, including a bronze medal from the 2024 Paris Olympics, as well as gold medals from the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, 1964 Tokyo Olympics, 1998 Nagano Olympics and 2012 London Olympics.

Olympic memorabilia has long fetched a good price.

In 2022, the silver medal captured by Luz Long, the German long jumper who befriended Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, sold at auction for more than $488,000. A first-place silver medal awarded at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 sold for $180,111 when it was put up for auction in 2021 and a gold medal from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver sold for $68,750 in 2019.

Athletes also have auctioned off their medals for charity, including two-time canoe champion Yuri Cheban from Ukraine whose two golds and a bronze were auctioned for $109,451 in 2022 to help the war effort. Swimmer Ryan Lochte auctioned off his six Olympic silver and bronze medals the same year, with the $166,779 raised going to an organization benefitting children. He kept his gold medals.

The next summer Olympics will be in Los Angeles in 2028, marking the third time the city has hosted the Games. It also hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984.