Intellectuals expressed their gratitude for the qualitative leaps achieved by culture during the reign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz. Let the Kingdom set out with a forward-looking vision through Vision 2030 AD through a homeland that relies on its resources and capabilities and employs, in the spirit of aspiring youth, all the technical developments to renew the vitality of a homeland with international specifications that does not depend on oil only, but rather works on investing in men before money. And the establishment of a solid base based on the cultural and historical heritage and the rich and diverse civilizational heritage, and presenting its historical material in a new and striking way, taking advantage of what technology has achieved in terms of spaces ready for definition and acquaintance in an innovative way through the contribution of scientific and cultural institutions concerned with this abundant heritage.
Intellectuals attributed the cultural achievements in two years to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman's passion for knowledge and his keenness to enrich the cultural movement. As culture in the Kingdom achieved more achievements under the auspices of King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and witnessed quantum leaps in the level of accreditation of relevant institutions, including the Culture Authority, or the disbursement of a million subsidy annually for each literary club. Culture was not isolated from the achievements that were achieved during his auspicious era. Honorable decisions were issued to establish a royal complex and an academy of arts, the fifth writers’ conference was held, and the book fair was held in Jeddah for three consecutive sessions. Women also actively attended the Saudi cultural scene.
The poet Abdelaziz Abu Lissa asserts that King Salman had a close relationship with reading in all human disciplines, especially history and civilization. He considered this an important element in his generous attention to the educated elites and his care for everything that would raise the awareness of the citizen, referring to his additional speech when meeting with writers, media professionals and intellectuals, as he called on them to constructive and positive criticism and to communicate their voice in any possible way.
New vision
And the Secretary of the King Abdulaziz House, Dr. Fahd Al-Semary, confirms that King Abdulaziz introduced the land of the Arabian Peninsula and its people in a new and future vision, and transferred it from the conditions of delay in education and economic renaissance to human positivity, knowledge, economic prosperity and security, indicating that the existence of a modern state opened up promising civilizational paths for the land. And the human being, and King Abdulaziz was able, with this civilizational achievement, to reinforce in the human being the Arabian Peninsula values that were absent such as national belonging, teamwork, unification of efforts, goals and order in order to build features of a new and great meaning that is the homeland consistent with the historical stage of the world, pointing out that the concept of national identity began in the era of The founding king laid the first building blocks through settlement, equality, and the establishment of an advanced administrative organization. He attributed the discovery of oil to the establishment of an organized and national economy that everyone shares in its outputs, just as they participate in its inputs and industry, after the founder of the country harnessed it to serve society, until the Kingdom became on the threshold of a prosperous future, and that station was the most important, as the first seeds were laid for an integrated state and an advanced society. Al-Semary added, “After the era of the founder, civil society institutions crystallized and the Saudi man moved to a comfortable civil life after the stakes of security and stability were consolidated, and new architectural construction movements began to spread after the cities emerged from their mud walls looking forward to new stations of a leisurely life, so the contract of institutions was completed. Greater and broader aspirations emerged in the lives of Saudis, and new concepts and terminology emerged, such as citizenship rights and duties, scientific missions, external scholarships, mechanization, training, industry, and other concepts imposed by the stage’s vision for the future. He explained that the Kingdom has consolidated the foundations of Islamic solidarity and Arab unity in the face of the civilized openness that permeated the world, raised its defense of Islam by supporting its causes everywhere, and strengthened solidarity and interdependence among Muslims. He believes that one of the major strategies is to confront slogans alien to the nation by establishing institutions with an Islamic dimension and supporting their goals and actions in order to preserve the Islamic and Arab entity.
Promote a culture of tolerance
The Chairman of the Cultural Committee in the Shura Council, Dr. Fayez Al-Shehri, considered the most important cultural achievements to be the approval of the Board of Directors of the General Authority for Audiovisual Media to issue licenses for those wishing to open cinemas, and the approval of a Royal Complex for Arts within the National Transformation Plan 2020. He stressed that caring for the educated and creative elites promotes the values of peace And tolerance among members of society, and reduce extremism and raise the level of human taste. Pointing out that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman, is the first man of culture, inspired by history, and a seasoned leader who is open to the needs of all segments and components of his society. He believes that the integration of the roles of the Culture Authority with the Arts Complex and cinemas will have an impact on shaping the human conscience according to the facts of normal life, expressing his optimism about establishing more institutions to be intellectual beacons and centers to highlight talents and promote national culture. Occupying leisure time for young people is beneficial and useful. It is hoped that the Royal Institute of Arts will be a modern center for enriching the arts scene and diversity in the Kingdom, in a way that preserves the rich artistic and creative heritage and contributes to shaping the awareness of the emerging generations in light of the global intellectual flood and dissolving national identities through culture and the arts. Pointing out that King Salman inaugurated the Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam, which was established by Al-Imam University in cooperation with the Institute for the History of Arab and Islamic Sciences at Frankfurt University in Germany. Pointing out that the past years witnessed an active partnership of civil society institutions and their contribution to many global intellectual and cultural activities through institutional work represented by the Misk Foundation and the Asbar Center for Studies and Media. He pointed out that the inclusion of some Saudi heritage sites and arts in the list of world cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization «UNESCO» highlights the true face of the Kingdom of culture, history, heritage and the arts, pointing out that since the days of Al-Qatt Al-Asiri recorded a global presence through the works of Saudi women who entered to the halls of UNESCO. Al-Shehri said, King Salman gives the youth most of his attention, recalling what the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques affirmed on several occasions that youth are the real wealth in every nation, being the majority in number, and the always renewed active energy, which represents the backbone of development and its ammunition, in a world where competition between nations intensifies to build Its civilization is based on the economy of knowledge, which has become the language of the age undisputedly, and whoever lags behind has condemned himself to sitting behind the march of the caravan.
Culture Authority
Academic Muhammad Al-Safrani confirms that the memory of the pledge of allegiance is a blessed memory that overlooks us with multiple achievements at all levels, and among the most prominent achievements in the year that supervises the completion of the General Authority for Culture, which is considered one of the most prominent cultural achievements, as the honorable royal order was issued to establish the General Authority for Culture within the noble royal orders Which came in line with the Kingdom's Vision 2030, including the development of government institutions, restructuring and developing their system to keep pace with the goals set to activate their roles and move forward in upgrading their services in line with the importance of the national and international presence of our country in various fields, and added that the authority will give Saudi cultural, literary and artistic work A distinguished national, Arab and international presence, and unlimited support for various cultural institutions such as cultural centers, literary clubs, artistic associations, and public libraries, as well as various civil cultural institutions. In addition to the General Authority for Culture, the event of the Fifth Saudi Writers’ Conference under the generous patronage of the shrine of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques in Riyadh in the month of Safar highlights what confirmed King Salman’s approach to the supreme care of literature, writers, culture and intellectuals in the Kingdom, as the number of participants in the conference reached more than seventy. .
Cinemas
The novelist Amr Al-Amiri confirms that the news of the Ministry of Information’s approval of granting licenses for cinemas in the private sector constitutes a qualitative addition to moving the concept of culture in its broadest sense, in light of the previous resumption of concerts that were part of society’s culture, since art as a whole is one of the most important soft forces to confront extremism and break The spirit and mentality of prohibition that led the components of our society to clash with normal mushrooms. Al-Amiri added that all this happened during the reign of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, which restored to the society its balance and its driving forces towards raising young people, a healthy upbringing that is compatible with what is healthy and present in all countries of the world., stressing that the history of the Kingdom was recorded with a supply of light that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and His Highness is the Crown Prince His era is the one who returned society to its right path with courage and clarity towards the path from which it deviated and which crippled its capabilities for many years, because culture is not only a book or literary creativity, but rather the vitality of an interactive and active society, keeping pace with what is happening in the whole world and breaking the harsh collar of isolation, being the directives that It is ordered by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, which follow every day in editing and supporting cultural channels that restore society to its true identity, dry up the sources of extremism and terrorism, inject joy and entertainment, and make it available after it used to require traveling to neighboring countries.
Supporting exhibitions and festivals
While the poet Ali Al-Hafzi affirmed that the memory of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques ascending to power is dear to the hearts, and the mechanization of souls in light of his actions, may God preserve him, on the ground being crowned with achievement and on several levels politically, militarily and socially, and progress to build the country and the good of the citizen.
Pointing out that what matters to us, and we are a group of the fabric of Saudi society who work with culture and literature, is what is in this vital field and in the interest of soft power; He, may God preserve him, supported this important aspect directly and strongly, how can he not, while he is deep in thought, a man of history, and a friend of culture, and he spared no effort in advancing the culture of this country and with clear perseverance to make it a bright glow, as delegations of culture and literature participate in international conferences and local meetings with a steady pace and a bright vision, he added. “We also see inside his support for book fairs, holding evenings and literary festivals clearly, clearly and brightly, pointing out that the elites know and realize their leader’s fondness for history and his ability to discover the useful in literature and the influential locally and internationally, so our happiness is great; As this venerable king leads the helm of science and culture with this leaping spirit, high aspiration, and leaping vision, may God grant him health and wellness, and reward him for the intellectuals with the best reward.
Ali Al-Rubai (Al-Baha) @okaz_online
