3.2 The Current Landscape of Museums in Saudi Arabia
In April 2016, within a year of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reign, the government launched an economic reform plan entitled Vision 2030. The Council of Ministers implemented government-wide changes to facilitate the launch of the Vision.[1] This Vision is set on pillars, along with programs, and standards, intended to diversify the economy and decrease its reliance on oil-rent. Within this Vision, governmental patronage of culture is set at the heart of this project.
Under the first pillar, the Vision is set on leveraging the country’s “status as the heart of the Arab and Islamic worlds” by expanding the government’s capacities to welcome pilgrims to the holy Mosques of Makkah and Madina; among the Vision’s top goals is to increase the number of annual Umrah visitors from 8 million a year to 30 million by the year 2030.[2] In leveraging the country’s religious status, the plan is to set up “Islamic museum in accordance with the highest local standards, equipped with the latest collection, preservation, presentation and documentation.”[3] Among the goals of this pillar is to increase the number of Saudi heritage sites registered with UNESCO by 2030 alongside plans for creating the “Largest Islamic Museum” in both Holy cities.[4]
The Islamic Museum is intended to become a landmark for citizens and visitors alike, and an opportunity to “take an immersive journey through the different ages of Islamic civilization, as well as its science, scholars and culture”.[5] Tangentially, this pillar includes the promotion of culture and entertainment in the form of enhancing the government’s role in patronage of new entertainment avenues, options, and structures.[6] These institutions are lump summed to include libraries, museums, and supporting the arts. In support of these new avenues of government expenditure, a tangible goal set for this pillar is the increasing of household spending on cultural and entertainment activities inside the Kingdom from the then current level of 2.9% to 6% by 2030.[7]
Following the launch of the Vision, a dedicated Ministry tasked with managing and developing art, culture, and heritage – in line with and in pursuit of the Vision – was formed in 2018. Significant to highlight is the Ministry’s intended purpose of propelling Vision 2030 with its mission being intertwined with its projected capacity to contribute to the country’s GDP by up to 3% by the year 2030.[8] Mandated by Royal Order A/217, His Highness Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud was named the first Minister of Culture on June 2, 2018.
The inaugural event of the first ever Ministry of Culture (hereafter MoC) took place at the King Abdulaziz’s Historical Center in Riyadh with the old Masmak Fort as its backdrop.[9] The official launch of the Ministry’s general strategy took place alongside 27 initiatives meant to kick off a new era of government patronage for culture.[10] Ranging between programs aimed at social, cultural engagement, and the creation of entirely new institutions dedicated to fine art, the Ministry’s strategy is meant to herald a new form of state cultural patronage.
What is particular about MoC is its definition of culture being based on an examination of the Kingdom’s existing cultural ecosystem. The definition of Culture, according to the Ministry’s strategy, is characterized by the difficulty of strictly defining it.[11] MoC recognizes that culture:
is a broad term and has different meanings to different people. To one person culture can mean natural heritage and the landscape, but to another it is poetry and the performing arts. Culture has tangible and intangible aspects. It evolves over time. It is both ancient and modern. Archaeology is often associated with culture, but today so are the digital arts.
To ensure that the Ministry is undertaking a holistic approach in the definition of culture's many meanings, the MoC’s framework for defining culture takes into account UNESCO’s definition of culture under 7 categories and combines it with local understandings of culture within Saudi Arabia.[12] Among the most important developments of the Ministry was the creation of 11 specialized Commissions and 16 sectors that will come “to form the cultural space the Ministry oversees”.[13] As delineated in its general strategy, these commissions “will assist in driving forward sector specific agendas and outlines the Ministry’s approach to industry and international engagement.”[14] Within the Ministry’s founding document, a thorough explanation of how the Commissions are building upon existing government entities, all while introducing new directives for previously underrepresented sectors within the government’s patronage structure. To keep the discussion at hand focused on the current landscape of museums in Saudi Arabia, what follows is a close examination of the early establishment of the Museums Commission (hereafter referred to as the Commission).
By 2020, a transfer of existing cultural institutions to the Ministry of Culture began. The first, and perhaps the most significant transfer, was the transfer of the National Museum in Riyadh to the Ministry.[15] Simultaneously, tourism chiefs of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) announced the completion of four “showpiece regional museums” located in Asir, Hail, Tabuk and Al Jawf.[16] Of interest in the asset transfer plans were the provisions made to transfer the national heritage segment of the SCTH to the Ministry of Culture. This institutional reorganization made way for the transformation of the SCTH into a dedicated Ministry of Tourism and the completion of the mandate set for it by the National Transformation Program 2020 initiative.[17] This shift, and simultaneous definitive organizational restructuring of the government’s branches, pronounced a clear image of the government’s shifting priorities.
Within the same timeframe, MoC’s specialized Commissions began to form. In February 2020, Dr. Stefano Carboni was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Museums Commission. As the Commission’s CEO, Dr. Carboni “Carboni will be responsible for formulating a strategy for the sector and granting licenses in the field, promoting funding and investment, and adopting professional training programs. The CEO’s responsibilities will also “include the design of relevant educational programs offering scholarships for talented people.”[18] Shortly thereafter, a board of directors was appointed to the Museums Commission composed of the Culture Minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan as Chair, Deputy Minister of Culture Hamed bin Mohammed Fayez as deputy chairman and a preliminary 3-year membership for other board members.[19] In contrast with previous governing bodies tasked with the care of museums, the Ministry’s level of publicity with its ongoing efforts set a precedent for how cultural patronage can be managed.
Just as the Ministry’s strategy gained momentum, the COVID pandemic appeared to have a dampening effect on its ambitions. Reports on “plans going to dust”, namely in foreign media, began to circulate and the framing of the cultural collaborations mounted by the Ministry was regarded as a “soft power” move on the part of the government.[20] However, in an opinion piece published by The Art Newspaper in November 2020, the Minister of Culture highlighted the importance of culture in the thick of the pandemic as “culture – and the innovation and creativity that comes from it – offers, with a sense of certainty, a hope for better days ahead.”[21] In light of Saudi Arabia hosting a virtual summit for G20 nations that same year, the Minister’s piece helped solidify the role of culture – and its tangential economy – within the larger narrative of development brought about by Vision 2030. What is most significant in this form of personal outreach is communicating, on a much broader scale, the flexibility with which the Ministry is facing the pandemic with the way it is seeking to develop the cultural sector.
In 2021 the Commission announced its plans for museums across the Kingdom with the official launch of a list of museums set to be in operation in as early as 2022. Renovation plans for the National Museum and the Masmak Fort Museum in Riyadh are well underway, alongside expansion and development plans of a dozen other museums across the Kingdom set to open by 2024.[22] Additionally, the Commission was set to oversee the opening of several new museums by 2030. The Ministry’s plans, and especially that of the Commission, went on unencumbered by the challenges of the pandemic, or so it appeared.
“Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Movement… Drastic Changes, Global Launch The Official Saudi Press Agency,” accessed April 10, 2023, https://www.spa.gov.sa/2282969. ↑
Government of Saudi Arabia, “Saudi Vision 2030” (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2017), 13–19, https://www.vision2030.gov.sa/media/rc0b5oy1/saudi_vision203.pdf. ↑
Government of Saudi Arabia, 21. ↑
Government of Saudi Arabia, 21. ↑
Ibid. ↑
Government of Saudi Arabia, “Saudi Vision 2030,” 21. ↑
Government of Saudi Arabia, 25.
AlArabiya, “["Saudi Ministry of Culture launches its general strategy.. 27 initiatives]الثقافة السعودية تطلق استراتيجيتها العامة.. 27 مبادرة,” AlArabiya العربية, March 27, 2019, sec. السعودية, https://www.alarabiya.net/saudi-today/2019/03/27/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%B7%D9%84%D9%82-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A9-27-%D9%85%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%A9-. ↑
AlArabiya, “["Saudi Ministry of Culture launches its general strategy.. 27 initiatives]الثقافة السعودية تطلق استراتيجيتها العامة.. 27 مبادرة,” AlArabiya العربية, March 27, 2019, sec.; Ministry of Tourism, “SCTH Transfers National Heritage Sector to Ministry of Culture After Completing Its Organization, Development and Launching Its Projects” (Riyadh, October 18, 2020), https://mt.gov.sa/en/mediaCenter/News/MainNews/Pages/a-m-1-30-19.aspx. ↑
“["Saudi Ministry of Culture launches its general strategy.. 27 initiatives]الثقافة السعودية تطلق استراتيجيتها العامة.. 27 مبادرة.” ↑
Ministry of Culture, “Our Cultural Vision for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2019” (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Ministry of Culture, 2019), 7, file:///Users/judealqunaibit/Downloads/MOC%20Cultural%20Vision_EN.pdf. ↑
Ministry of Culture, 8. ↑
Ministry of Culture, 8. The eleven Cultural Commissions are: the Museums Commission, the Film Commission, the Music Commission, the Libraries Commission, Fashion Commission, Heritage Commission, Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, Architecture and Design Commission, Theatre and Performing Arts Commission, the Visual Arts Commission, the Culinary Arts Commission. ↑
Ministry of Culture, “Our Cultural Vision for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 2019,” 6. ↑
Ministry of Culture, “سمو وزير الثقافة يثمن قرار نقل المتحف الوطني إلى وزارة الثقافة [His Highness the Minister of Culture appreciates the decision to transfer the National Museum to the Ministry of Culture],” January 7, 2020. ↑
SPA, “Four New Saudi Museums Costing SR224m to Open in 2020,” Arab News, January 1, 2020, https://arab.news/rkf2k. ↑
Government of Saudi Arabia, “The National Transformation Program 2020,” Governmental Report (Riyadh, 2019), 66–68; SPA, “Four New Saudi Museums Costing SR224m to Open in 2020.” ↑
Arab News, “Stefano Carboni Appointed CEO for Saudi Arabia’s New Museums Commission,” Arab News, February 20, 2020, https://arab.news/zry45. ↑
The other named members of the board of the Museums Commission were Markus Hilgert, Rifaat Medhat Sheikh El-Ard Al-Saud, Chris Dirkon, Jennifer Stockman and Mona Khazindar. ↑
Melissa Gronlund, “Are Saudi Arabia’s Big Culture Plans Turning to Dust?,” The Art Newspaper - International Art News and Events, May 29, 2020, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/05/29/are-saudi-arabias-big-culture-plans-turning-to-dust; Gareth Harris, “Saudi Arabia Pushes Soft Power by Launching New teamLab Digital Art Museum in Jeddah,” The Art Newspaper - International Art News and Events, September 14, 2020, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/09/14/saudi-arabia-pushes-soft-power-by-launching-new-teamlab-digital-art-museum-in-jeddah; Gareth Harris, “Saudi Arabia Moves Ahead with Plans for 2021 Biennale at Historic Ad Diriyah Site,” The Art Newspaper - International Art News and Events, June 5, 2020, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/06/05/saudi-arabia-moves-ahead-with-plans-for-2021-biennale-at-historic-ad-diriyah-site. ↑
Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, “Why Culture Is so Important in the Time of Coronavirus,” The Art Newspaper - International Art News and Events, November 4, 2020, https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/11/04/why-culture-is-so-important-in-the-time-of-coronavirus. ↑
Tamara Abueish, “Saudi Arabia Announces Plans to Transform, Build Museums across the Kingdom,” Al Arabiya English, September 20, 2021, sec. Gulf, https://english.alarabiya.net/News/gulf/2021/09/20/Saudi-Arabia-announces-plans-to-transform-build-museums-across-the-Kingdom. Stefano Carboni, “Dr. Carboni: 4 Museums to Be Set up in Two Years,” Saudi Gazette, November 30, 2021, https://saudigazette.com.sa/article/614153; Carboni. ↑