Opinion Tourism The controversial painting primed to become Riyadh’s crown jewel Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi is poised to be a cultural anchor for the Saudi capital September 9, 2024
Giga-projects Five Saudi banks to finance cultural development fund Five Saudi banks have agreed to provide financing for a new arts fund managed by Saudi Arabia’s Cultural Development Fund, which has been leading government support for the arts since 2021. The agreement with Al-Rajhi Bank, Alinma Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, Arab National Bank and Bank Aljazira will provide support to private sector projects in […] August 22, 2024
Banking & Finance Abu Dhabi-backed financier among bidders for Hollywood giant A New York investment company backed by Abu Dhabi is part of a group that has launched a bid to take over Paramount Global, one of Hollywood’s biggest entertainment companies. The conglomerate, led by the industry veteran Edgar Bronfman Jr, a former CEO of Warner Music Group, submitted a $4.3 billion bid on Monday to […] August 21, 2024
Finance Abu Dhabi’s ADQ buys minority stake in Sotheby’s Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ and Patrick Drahi, majority owner of auction house Sotheby’s, will jointly invest $1 billion in the company to support its expansion plans. As part of the agreement, ADQ will acquire a minority stake in Sotheby’s, a British-founded company that has its headquarters in New York. The value of the sovereign […] August 12, 2024
Giga-projects Full steam ahead on ‘largest urban park in the world’ Saudi Arabia is forging ahead with construction of what it calls the “largest urban park in the world”, publishing videos of its first buildings under construction after a tunnel opened earlier this year. King Salman Park in Riyadh is owned by the Public Investment Fund and was recently valued by real estate consultancy Knight Frank […] July 19, 2024
Giga-projects Futuristic architect lands arts centre in Saudi’s Qiddiya Saudi sports and entertainment city Qiddiya is to build a performing arts centre designed by leading architect Tom Wiscombe, whose futuristic building will straddle rugged mountains outside Riyadh. The centre will include 3,000 seats spread across three theatres including an amphitheatre with views of the capital. Qiddiya, one of the Public Investment Fund’s giga-projects, said […] June 27, 2024
Economy Oman to build $31m Film City Oman is to build an OR12 million ($31.2 million) ‘Film City’ to boost its entertainment sector, a news report said. The project follows the outcomes of workshops held in March by the ministry of sports, culture and youth, Oman Daily Observer reported, citing a government official. The city is expected to provide more than 100 […] June 24, 2024
People & Lifestyle Saudi director’s labour of love takes the kingdom to Cannes For the first time a Saudi film has been selected to compete in the Cannes film festival, catapulting its little-known self-taught director into the limelight. Tawfik Alzaidi was so surprised that he’d managed to break through to the big time that he kept the news that his film Norah had been accepted for the ‘Un […] April 26, 2024
Video length: 04:13 VIDEO Retail Dubai art dealer uses NFTs for fractional art ownership A Dubai tech startup is introducing tokenisation to the art world, after the NFT bubble burst spectacularly. 10101.art aims to make investing in art accessible to all by selling digitised fragments of works by artists including Andy Warhol, Banksy and Picasso, allowing for collective ownership of a masterpiece for as little as $100 a fragment. […] April 26, 2024
Artificial Intelligence Dubai startup helps AI-voice cloning take centre stage A YouTube video released in January of Novak Djokovic shows the tennis star speaking fluent Spanish at a post-match press conference. While the Serbian champion is renowned for speaking several languages, in this case his voice was created by an artificial intelligence tool developed by a Dubai-based startup, Camb.ai. The original Djokovic footage was taken […] March 29, 2024
People & Lifestyle Art trumps diamonds when it comes to luxury investment For Middle East investors, works of art are worth hanging on to. Artworks have more than doubled in value over the past decade, the latest edition of the Knight Frank Global Wealth Report reveals. It was a mixed year for luxury investments last year. Whisky, cars, handbags, furniture and wine lost value. Diamonds, coins and […] March 15, 2024
Opinion People & Lifestyle Fun of the Fair – the wacky world of Art Dubai The annual culture blast is a good barometer of the emirate's economic fortunes March 1, 2024
Media & Advertising Saudi Arabia sets up Big Time film investment fund Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority has set up the Big Time investment fund to support pan-Arab cinema, in Riyadh’s latest push to develop soft power through sports and culture. The authority’s head Turki Alalshikh said during a visit to Cairo that the entertainment authority would act as the Big Time fund’s main sponsor along with […] February 19, 2024
Opinion People & Lifestyle Dubai authors must help balance the books A grant system could be the way to nurture homegrown literary talent February 8, 2024
Opinion People & Lifestyle Kinokuniya – where better to prepare for Dubai’s literary fest? The Japanese bookstore is proof of the abiding attraction of paper and ink January 26, 2024
Economy Dubai unveils $56bn plan to improve standard of living Dubai has unveiled a AED208 billion ($56.64 billion) ten-year strategy aimed at making the city one of the top three in the world for standard of living. There are also plans to double the number of Emirati families and triple the number of citizens working in the private sector by 2033. “We aim to double […] January 5, 2024
Media & Advertising Coming to a movie theatre near you … AlUla It would make the perfect setting for Star Wars or Indiana Jones, but AlUla is developing production facilities that will expand its reach beyond sci-fi and desert adventure movies, making it one of the region’s prime locations for international shoots. The tourist location in northwest Saudi Arabia is fast developing into a mini-city with an […] December 24, 2023
People & Lifestyle Opera hits the high notes as Saudi’s latest cultural attraction Anyone for opera? There was a time when the last place you would expect a serious answer to this question would have been Riyadh. But after Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli’s landmark performance in Alula last year, the sky’s the limit for musical tastes of all types as Saudi Arabia strives to develop a cultural profile […] December 18, 2023
People & Lifestyle Saudi art blooms with the kingdom’s transformation The arts have undergone profound changes in Saudi Arabia over the past decade as the country has enacted wide-ranging reforms, according to a leading Saudi artist. Once silenced by religious forces and a conservative culture, female artists in particular have come to the fore through a raft of government and private sector initiatives to encourage […] December 18, 2023
People & Lifestyle Gwyneth Paltrow slides door on films to focus on Goop Gwyneth Paltrow has all but closed the door on her acting career, giving her more time to focus on her wellness brand Goop and to explore new countries such as Saudi Arabia, the Oscar winner told an audience at the Red Sea International Film Festival. “For the foreseeable future I’m at Goop. I have a […] December 18, 2023
Media & Advertising In the streaming age, the TV stays on after Ramadan YouTube creators and streaming services are changing the face of television all over the world – but particularly in Arab countries, according to executives who attended the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah this month. The entertainment industry in the Middle East traditionally focused on the fasting month, when TV shows could find a captive […] December 18, 2023
Video length: 05:22 Construction Norwegian architects to help bring opera to Saudi masses Norwegian architects Snøhetta have unveiled the design for an opera house to be built in Riyadh by 2028 as part of Saudi Arabia’s drive to make a once forbidding capital city a global cultural destination. Video representations of the Royal Diriyah Opera House were shown last week at a ceremony in the historical Diriyah district […] December 18, 2023