Saudi Music Commission Launches 3rd Edition of ‘Trouq Tours’

Saudi dancers perform during the launch of a new tourist visa
regime at a dinner at historic Diriyah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
September 27, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Kalin/File Photo
Saudi dancers perform during the launch of a new tourist visa regime at a dinner at historic Diriyah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia September 27, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Kalin/File Photo
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Saudi Music Commission Launches 3rd Edition of ‘Trouq Tours’

Saudi dancers perform during the launch of a new tourist visa
regime at a dinner at historic Diriyah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
September 27, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Kalin/File Photo
Saudi dancers perform during the launch of a new tourist visa regime at a dinner at historic Diriyah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia September 27, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Kalin/File Photo

The “Saudi Trouq” program has launched the 3rd field tour of its methodical program aimed at preserving the kingdom’s musical and performative folklore, protecting its artistic heritage, and documenting them.

These efforts are aimed at motivating researchers and artists to study this heritage, and profit from its cultural and humanitarian value.

“Saudi Trouq” is the largest methodical documentation program targeting musical and performative heritage. It was launched by the Saudi Music Commission and the Theater and Performing Arts Commission in mid-2021, and its set to run until 2027.

The Saudi Music Commission and the Theater and Performing Arts Commission started their field tours to map the folkloric musical and performative genres through the “Trouq” program in Makkah before moving to southern Saudi Arabia, in Asir, where a team of 10 researchers mapped the folkloric genres in several interior provinces.

The commissions have recently launched the third phase from Al-Bahah Province, a new tour in which the local community will contribute to preserving its artistic folklore as a witness on values and authenticity.

The “Saudi Trouq” team has urged the local community and those interested in the heritage of Saudi Arabia to take part in the documentation efforts in all regions.

Khalil Arab, owner of a popular museum who’s interested in culture, said the vast geographical area of Saudi Arabia, and its long-neglected rich and diverse artistic heritage, require concentrated and doubled efforts to track and revive this folklore and its hidden parts, and to reactivate the artistic, heritage, and folkloric genres that the country knew throughout its prestigious social history.

The program has used the culture ministry’s UNESCO-inspired “cultural archive” approach, according to which the research team meet the local communities, individuals interested in heritage, folklore practitioners, music instruments makers, historians and experts, to map the folklore genres before the next phase, which will run for over almost 10 months.

In the upcoming phase, the folkloric genres will be documented with high-end production techniques in the form of videos, audios, podcasts, and performance recordings, in addition to producing documentaries that highlight the prestigious heritage, and specialized visual and audio materials that can be used by researchers in their studies, or by artists in their musical, theatrical, and performative works.



Flights Cancelled to and from Indonesia’s Bali Due to Volcanic Ash

 Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews ash and smoke during an eruption as seen from Lewolaga village in Titihena, East Nusa Tenggara, on November 13, 2024. (AFP)
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews ash and smoke during an eruption as seen from Lewolaga village in Titihena, East Nusa Tenggara, on November 13, 2024. (AFP)
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Flights Cancelled to and from Indonesia’s Bali Due to Volcanic Ash

 Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews ash and smoke during an eruption as seen from Lewolaga village in Titihena, East Nusa Tenggara, on November 13, 2024. (AFP)
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews ash and smoke during an eruption as seen from Lewolaga village in Titihena, East Nusa Tenggara, on November 13, 2024. (AFP)

Several international airlines cancelled flights to and from Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Wednesday, after further eruptions of a volcano that has spewed ash clouds as high as 10 km (32,808 ft) and forced thousands to evacuate.

Jetstar and Qantas said they had stopped flights to Bali on Wednesday for safety reasons because of volcanic ash, while plane tracking website Flightradar24 showed flights to the island by AirAsia and Virgin were also cancelled.

Bali is Indonesia's top tourist hotspot and is a popular destination for Australian visitors.

The first eruption of the Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki on Nov. 3 in the East Nusa Tenggara province, about 800 km (497 miles) from Bali, killed at least nine people. It has since erupted repeatedly, including multiple times on Tuesday.

From Nov. 4 to Nov. 12, 80 flights in Bali were cancelled, including from Singapore, Hong Kong, and several Australian cities, said Ahmad Syaugi Shahab, general manager of Bali's Ngurah Rai airport.

Indonesia has close to 130 active volcanoes and sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an area of high seismic activity atop various tectonic plates.

The ash column from Mount Lewotobi has reached as high as 10 km and authorities have said sand fall has covered surrounding areas.