11 Dec Saudi Arabia Strikes Major Culture Deals With U.K. and France
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The U.K. has struck a major new culture deal with Saudi Arabia after British prime minister Keir Starmer met with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud in Riyadh on Monday. The news comes as France’s own cultural partnership with the fast-growing Middle Eastern economy has begun to pay dividends, including a whopping €52.5 million ($55 million) for the Centre Pompidou in Paris.
The new deal bartered by Starmer will help boost Saudi’s appeal as a tourist destination and help protect its cultural landmarks. It is also intended to increase investment into the U.K. and create new commercial opportunities for British cultural institutions.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud at the Royal Court on December 9, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth – WPA Pool/Getty Images
“Through deeper economic ties with key partners such as Saudi Arabia, we can unlock growth and new opportunities both at home and abroad to deliver change that is felt by working people in the U.K.,” said Starmer in a press statement.
The agreement will see the U.K. government-sponsored Historic England, a public body for the preservation of cultural heritage, offer its expertise to the Saudi Heritage Commission, assisting with the conservation of the country’s rich industrial heritage. It will also run a series of training programs for a new generation of Saudi specialists in the conservation of buildings and monuments.
Kimsooja,To Breathe – AlUla, Desert X AlUla 2024, photo by Lance Gerber, courtesy of The Royal Commission for AlUla.
Additionally, the U.K.’s department for business and trade are set to team up with the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), with the aim of promoting the ancient city of AlUla as a global destination that, by 2035, attracts some 2 million visitors annually. If this plan succeeds, it is projected to generate $32 billion for the Saudi economy.
AlUla is already recognized as a region of great cultural significance, being home to Hegra archaeological site—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—a 10th-century hilltop fort, and cliffs bearing ancient rock carvings. It is also the venue for Saudi Arabia’s contemporary art biennial Desert X, which sees newly-commissioned sculptural works on a mammoth scale installed amid the austere majesty of the desert valley.
In its pursuit of lavish Saudi spending, the U.K. has some competition from across the channel. In 2018, France signed a deal with the kingdom that would see it invest around €800 million ($840 million) in the French cultural projects. This mammoth sum never came to be, but it was recently announced that Saudi Arabia will instead give €50 million ($52.5 million) towards the renovation of the Centre Pompidou in Paris. This is a significant chunk of the €262 million projected cost of the major five year project, which will see the museum close to the public next summer.
Meanwhile, the RCU’s $15 billion AlUla project is also predominantly being steered by Afalula, The French Agency for AlUla Development, which was established in 2018 but only recently started to take shape with the appointment of French journalist Catherine Pégard as chief of cultural development this fall. It will allow the RCU to make use of French expertise in fields like archaeology, urban planning, tourism, and sustainable natural resource management.
French President Emmanuel Macron, second from left, walks next to Saudi’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, second from right, ahead of their meeting in Riyadh on December 2, 2024. Photo: Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
France and Saudi Arabia have also announced nine new deals in cultural fields like archaeology, cinema, and photography. In one case, the Arles’ School of Photography will participate in the founding of a new photography museum in Riyadh. These efforts are set within a wider strategic partnership that will affect sectors like energy and defense, and also materialize in a collaboration on the hosting of the A.I. Action Summit in Paris in early February 2025.
“Saudi Arabia has major infrastructure and training needs, and it sees France as a centralized system giving access to a depth of resources,” a source at the French culture ministry told Le Monde.
Just last week, ArtReview released its annual Power 100 list with a special focus on the growing international prominence of artists and art institutions in the Middle East. It placed Saudi Arabia’s first culture minister Prince Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, who is charged with steering many aspects of Vision 2030, in the 41st spot. Recently, Christie’s announced that it is expanding its Middle Eastern presence to a Riyadh outpost and Sotheby’s auction house soon followed suit, revealing plans to hold its first auction in Saudi Arabia early next year.
Culture has played a central part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 mission to boost the country’s economy and international standing. These efforts look set to continuing having results a decade into the future, with FIFA confirming today that Saudi Arabia will host the men’s football World Cup in 2034.
Source Credit: Content and images from Artnet News. Read the original article - https://news.artnet.com/art-world/saudi-arabia-strikes-major-culture-deals-with-u-k-and-france-2585048