Saudi Arabia: International Video Art Forum Receives 67 Artistic Works from 27 Countries

Registration will remain open until November 5, with the forum scheduled for December. SPA
Registration will remain open until November 5, with the forum scheduled for December. SPA
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Saudi Arabia: International Video Art Forum Receives 67 Artistic Works from 27 Countries

Registration will remain open until November 5, with the forum scheduled for December. SPA
Registration will remain open until November 5, with the forum scheduled for December. SPA

The Organizing Committee of the International Video Art Forum announced on Wednesday that it has received 67 artworks from 27 countries for its sixth edition. Registration will remain open until November 5, with the forum scheduled for December.

The forum, organized by the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts in Dammam in partnership with the Cinema Association, has received submissions from countries including Ethiopia, Australia, Argentina, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Germany, the United Kingdom, India, the United States, Japan, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Peru, Slovenia, France, Palestine, Croatia, Canada, Lebanon, Egypt, and the Netherlands.

The forum's General Supervisor and Director of the Saudi Arabian Society for Culture and Arts in Dammam, Yousif Al-Harbi, elaborated that this year's slogan, "Imagination Embodied, Reality Transformed," reflects the transformation of imaginative ideas into tangible works of art. He emphasized that these works can impact our reality and demonstrate the power of art in bridging the gap between imagination and reality.

Al-Harbi noted that the forum has successfully showcased contemporary visual art experiences using advanced technologies in its previous five sessions, attracting over 823 artworks from more than 70 countries and offering 31 specialized seminars and workshops. It is recognized as the first international gathering for artists in the Gulf region. Each edition features an artistic theme and showcases a wide range of artistic talent, as video art is a technology-based medium that looks toward the future.

The forum and the Cinema Association plan to provide more details about this session and its activities, including a workshop at Khobar's Cinema Association headquarters. The workshop aims to create a visual cultural movement that supports and develops creative human capital by encouraging talents and artists, a commitment the forum is dedicated to maintaining.



US YouTuber Remains in Custody in India after Visiting Restricted Island with Diet Coke Can

FILE – Clouds hang over the North Sentinel Island, in India’s southeastern Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nov. 14, 2005. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh, File)
FILE – Clouds hang over the North Sentinel Island, in India’s southeastern Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nov. 14, 2005. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh, File)
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US YouTuber Remains in Custody in India after Visiting Restricted Island with Diet Coke Can

FILE – Clouds hang over the North Sentinel Island, in India’s southeastern Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nov. 14, 2005. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh, File)
FILE – Clouds hang over the North Sentinel Island, in India’s southeastern Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nov. 14, 2005. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh, File)

A 24-year-old American YouTuber who was arrested after visiting an off-limits island in the Indian Ocean with hopes of establishing contact with a reclusive tribe was further detained in custody on Thursday.

Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov will next appear before a local court in Port Blair -- the capital of India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands -- on April 29, police said.

Polyakov, from Scottsdale, Arizona, was arrested on March 31, two days after he set foot on the restricted territory of North Sentinel Island in a bid to meet people from the reclusive Sentinelese tribe.

“It may be claimed to be an adventure trip, but the fact is that there has been a violation of Indian laws. Outsiders meeting Sentinelese could endanger the tribe’s survival,” said a senior police officer, requesting anonymity as he isn’t authorized to speak about the case under investigation.

Polyakov is suspected of violating Indian laws that carry a possible sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine, The AP news reported.

Visitors are banned from traveling within 3 miles (5 kilometers) of North Sentinel Island, whose population has been isolated from the rest of the world for thousands of years. The inhabitants use spears and bows and arrows to hunt the animals that roam the small, heavily forested island. Deeply suspicious of outsiders, they attack anyone who lands onto their beaches.

In 2018, an American missionary who landed illegally on the beach was killed by North Sentinelese Islanders who apparently shot him with arrows and then buried his body on the beach. In 2006, the Sentinelese had killed two fishermen who had accidentally landed on the shore.

An official from the US consulate visited Polyakov in jail earlier this week. The US embassy in Delhi didn’t immediately respond to a request confirming the visit or any further updates on Polyakov.

Police said Polyakov had conducted detailed research on sea conditions, tides and accessibility to the island before starting his journey. He stayed on the beach for about an hour, blowing a whistle to attract the attention but got no response from the islanders.

The young American had twice attempted to visit the island in the past, and left a can of Diet Coke and a coconut as offering for the tribe this time after he failed to contact the Sentinelese. He shot a video of the island on his camera and collected some sand samples before returning to his boat.

On his return he was spotted by local fishermen, who informed the authorities and Polyakov was arrested in Port Blair, an archipelago nearly 750 miles (1,207 kilometers) east of India’s mainland.