The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture aka Ithra, presented more than 7,000 programs and won five local and international awards this year.
Ithra presented more than 7,000 programs and initiatives in art, knowledge, culture, creativity and society this year, and welcomed more than 500,000 local and international visitors, the organization said.
In addition, about 4,000 male and female volunteers participated in the center’s local, regional and international events and activities, contributing 13,000 hours of work.
Ithra won five local and international awards in the past 12 months, including the 2021 Cultural Institutes Award in the private sector track by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture.
Ithra was also recognized with three prestigious accolades from MarCom, one of the largest and most respected creative competitions in the world. Among 6,000 entries, Ithra achieved platinum in the ‘Team Achievement’ and ‘Pro Bono’ categories, and gold in the ‘Social Content’ category for its efforts on World Book Day.
The center was also recognized locally by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development with numerous awards, including the first volunteer unit to implement the national volunteering standard, the first center to introduce volunteering in the private sector, and a Gold “Mowaamah” certification, for the accessible ecosystem that the center provides to support those with special needs, in accordance with their required standards and needs.
Ithra’s annual flagship creativity festival, held under the theme Tools — Crafting Creativity, Tanween 2021 attracted more than 25,000 visitors over the course of three weeks.
The festival featured international and local experts in 30 talks, 10 masterclasses, 7 workshops and 4 big experiences. One of the main features of Tanween was the Smartphone Orchestra, which sorted the public based on the data they provided themselves in this interactive and immersive activity. Another highlight featured mass drone swarms that interacted with the audience in one of the largest co-created drone/human light paintings ever made.
Currently on display at the first Diriyah Contemporary Art Biennale, Ithra Art Prize-winner Nadia Kaabi-Linke’s piece underlines the new Pan-Arab direction of the prize. This is the first year one of the most significant art prizes in the region is open to regional artists, while simultaneously representing a homecoming for the award which was presented at Art Dubai for its first three editions. Consisting of 19 canvasses nearly 20 meters long together, E Pluribus Unum – A Modern Fossil is described as a metaphor for modern times.
Ithra also cemented its reputation as a leading Saudi film producer with roadshows at the 74th Cannes International Film Festival and at the Red Sea International Film Festival, the Kingdom’s first international film fair. Produced under the Ithra Film Productions banner, celebrated Egyptian screenwriter and producer Mohamed Hefzy’s Sea of Sands and Saudi award-winning independent filmmaker Khalid Fahad’s Valley Road are both scheduled for release in 2023. The feature-length documentary film Anti-Cinema, meanwhile, is currently in post-production and is expected to hit the international film festival circuit shortly. Winner of the Ithra Content Commission Initiative, Ali Saeed and Hassan Saeed’s film brings Saudi Arabia’s film history to the big screen.
source/content: arabnews.com
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