RiyadhCiti.com » Culture

Up to 3m expats could lose jobs in Saudi Arabia

admin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:49:34 +0000

Up to three million expat workers will be forced to leave Saudi Arabia over the next few years under a new plan to cap their number, it was reported on Friday.

The kingdom’s Labour Ministry has put a 20 percent ceiling on the country’s guest workers in its latest bid to help find jobs for Saudi nationals.

“The maximum number of long-term expatriate workers in the Kingdom should not exceed 20 percent of the Saudi population,” a spokesman from the ministry was quoted as saying in Saudi daily Arab News.

Citing a report in the Al-Eqtisadiah business daily, it said the long-term plan would cut the number of expat workers which currently stands at 8.42m, 31 percent of the Saudi population of 18.7m.

According to the new plan, about 2.9m expat workers would have to leave the kingdom, according to the ministry’s statement which came after a meeting of GCC labour chiefs.

Under the country’s new Nitaqat system, companies are to be labelled “green”, “yellow” or “red” depending on the number of Saudis working for them.

Companies in the “yellow” category will not be able to extend their foreign employees’ work visas beyond six years while “red” companies will not be able to renew their foreign workers’ visas at all.

“Green” companies will be entitled to a number of benefits, such as expedited services for foreign workers’ visas and the ability to change the job categories of foreign workers into job categories reserved for Saudis.

Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia, which had a 10.8 percent unemployment rate in July, said it will begin to pay unemployment benefits for the first time from November.

The government from next year also will seek to encourage the hiring of more Saudi nationals in the kingdom’s private sector, Labour Minister Adel Fakieh said in comments published by newswire Bloomberg.

Separately, the ministry said it intends to launch 30 new initiatives as part of its drive to create jobs for Saudi university graduates.

Fakeih said they would include efforts to develop the skills of Saudi workers, informing the private sector about qualified Saudi jobseekers and opening new opportunities for women.

Eid El-fitir Celebrations around Riyadh 2011: When & Where

admin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:30:42 +0000

In anticipation for Eid El-fitir 2011, the Riyadh Municipality media center has released this years 2011 Eid schedule which will include 40 location, 186 different activities indulging the young and old with new and creative entertainment, sports events, theatre and much more!

For the Qasr Al Hokm District (قصر الحكم) events will start at 8:15 - 11:00 pm and will include Poetry, and a kids Eid intro. The rest of the evening will comprise of different Saudi dance groups performing traditional Saudi line dance.

Other locations include Justice Palace, Imam Mohammed bin Saud Area which have been equipped with stages, seating areas for men and women to view and enjoy the show!

Fireworks will be displayed in various area around Riyadh starting 9:15 pm in the following locations:

King Fahad Stadium
Prince Faisal bin Fahad Stadium (Malaz)
Prince Sultan University (King Abdullah Rd.)
South of Salam Mall
East of King Abdulaziz Park (Exit 17-18)
Al Haa’er District

Prince Faisal bin Fahad Stadium (Malaz): Events for men will include traditional cultural shows from 7 international groups, extreme car & motorcycle show and sports exhibitions.

6th Car & Motorcycle racing championship will be help every day during the 4 days of Eid, from 6:30 – 8:30 pm at the East Riyadh Park (Muntazah Sharq AlRiyadh, Alqadisiya Dist.). a wide range of pimped and upgraded cars.

Suwaidi Arena will feature a large number of kids and family events including plays, musicals, songs, competitions and remote control cars race starting 6:30 – 11:00 pm

King Abdulaziz Historical Center will feature a traditional tent featuring famous Saudi poets, traditional Saudi line dance groups and music performances starting 8:15 pm – 12:00 am

For the complete list of Eid festivities Click Here (Arabic Link)

Los Angeles Museum to Showcase Saudi Art

admin — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 20:39:07 +0000

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Los Angeles County Museum of Art(LACMA) recently acquired work from two contemporary Saudi artists, Ahmed Mater andAbdulnasser Gharem, which will be featured in its permanent collection on Middle Eastern and Islamic art.

AHMED MATER(ss)

“This acquisition provides people with an opportunity to learn more about Saudi art,” said Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir. “Exhibits like this strengthen cultural ties between our two nations.”

The Edge of Arabia arts project helped facilitate LACMA’s acquisitions in hope of engaging American audiences in contemporary art from the Arab World. The Los Angeles museum is currently leading an effort to build its Middle Eastern collection and welcomed both pieces to their growing collection of contemporary Middle Eastern art.

SOURCE Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Information Office

Saudi International Conference 2011 (England)

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 18:41:47 +0000

We are pleased and proud to announce the Saudi International Conference 2011 (SIC05)and invite you to participate in one of the most successful Saudi conferences worldwide. The 5th Saudi International Conference will be held in Coventry, UK between the 23rd – 26th of June, 2011. The SIC2011 will be hosted by WMG, The University of Warwick.

The conference is multidisciplinary, and the call for papers covers the subjects of Medical Science, Health & Social Studies, Engineering, Applied Science, Business & Economics, Politics and Law, Education & Linguistics, Humanities and ICT. The conference is organized by the Saudi Students’ Clubs in the UK and Ireland. The program will include paper and poster presentations, professional training workshops, plenary panel discussions and a Saudi exhibition day. The conference will be filled with informative refereed presentations, the latest research, exciting displays at the SIC exhibition and lots of networking opportunities for members and guests to reconnect with educators, researchers and colleagues from all over the globe. Accepted papers will be published in the conference proceedings, under an ISBN reference. Presenters of outstanding papers and posters will be singled out according to scientific committees and judges’ arbitration in each field

This year, in conjunction with the SIC’s core themes, professional development tutorials and a comprehensive exhibition with industrial visits in the local area will be given to emerging patterning technologies and methods.

To Register Click Here

Museum of the Built Environment Riyadh

admin — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 09:19:52 +0000

Glimmering glass volume to educate on the power of architecture in the built environment

Excavation work has now commenced on the FWFOWLE-designed Museum of the Built Environment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as the prestigious firm approaches the end of the project’s design development stage. With the volume’s heaviest portion at the summit and a level of transparency over its lower floors, FWFOWLE has experimented with the formal concepts of the erosion and chiselling of natural rock.

As an educational public facility dedicated to the promotion of art and architecture in the built environment it is imperative that the finished concept is representative of potential of the design industry. The Museum will look to inform visitors on the social, economical and environmental issues that shape the artistic forms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s urban realm.

Prismatic laminated glass panels create a shifting textual pattern across the thick upper levels of the complex, splintering the strong Riyadh sunlight across its many angled panes. This variation also enables FWFOWLE to control the intensity of the internal light within differing sections of the interior space.

Encompassed within the building’s 340,000 sq ft footprint will be a number of permanent and temporary galleries, a 150-seat auditorium, several eateries, and a sun terrace, surrounded by a sizeable plaza bisected by a sunken pedestrian park. Also within the plans is a major transportation hub, including a monorail hub at the +2 level and a network of public skywalks at the +1 level.

Museum of the Built Environment, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1)

Museum of the Built Environment, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2)

Museum of the Built Environment, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (3)

Arabia 3D, by veteran Imax filmmaker Greg MacGillivray

admin — Fri, 27 May 2011 08:07:11 +0000

In a mere 45 minutes, veteran Imax filmmaker Greg MacGillivray, manages to suggest the wonder and breadth of the human, physical and cultural experience that is Saudi Arabia.

As movie sets go, you can’t beat the Arabian Peninsula. And Arabia 3D has this movie set all to itself. The film is not only in 3D and in Imax’s large screen format, but this evidently is the first major production filmed entirely in Saudi Arabia. (To answer that question which just arose in your mind, Lawrence of Arabia was shot mostly in Spain and Morocco but not one frame in Arabia itself.) No doubt tempering the joy veteran large-screen director Greg MacGillivray must have felt with a whole country and 2,000 years of Arabian civilization at his fingertips was the daunting challenge that he has to cover the subject in only 45 minutes.

It’s a struggle but MacGillivray, editor Stephen Judson and writer Jack Stephens at least manage to suggestthe wonder and breadth of the human, physical and cultural experience that is Arabia. Plus there are certain sequences, most notably the Hajj, where three million Muslim pilgrims come annually to Mecca to reaffirm their faith, and a dive into the Red Sea to examine ancient shipwrecks, that only Imax 3D can capture so thrillingly.

This is a film consciously made without any political context. No doubt MacGillivray would argue that he means his film to be an antidote to the image of fanatical Arabs seen in popular American movies. But the absence of anypolitical background to its portrayal of modern-day Saudi society gives a strikingly incomplete picture.

The closest the film comes to stating that even by Arab and Islamic standards, Saudi Arabia is, shall we say, a wee bit conservative comes in the statement that as far as some of its female citizens are concerned, “change is too slow.”

The film concentrates on the two “golden ages” of Arabia. The first came with the almost-forgotten Nabataean civilization whose wealth was founded on trade with Romans in frankincense and spices. Contact with Roman civilization brought back construction and architecture knowledge that allowed this still-mysterious desert tribe to build stone cities and tombs that are only now being excavated by Dr. Daifallah Al-Talhi.

The second golden age, which coincided with Europe’s so-called Dark Age, includes the cultural, scientific, intellectual and philosophical discoveries by the Islamic Empire that stretched east and west into Asia and Africa. This era represented the absolute flowering of Arab civilization that is basis for much in our modern world.

Today with riches flowing from oil and booming cities whose buildings reach for the heavens in places where Bedouin tents existed only a few decades earlier, the film wonders if a third golden age lies in Saudi Arabia’s future. The answer to that, of course, can’t be assessed without reference to political realities the film so studiously avoids.

To put a human face on a film about a nation, Arabia 3D uses the sometimes-awkward devise of seeing Saudi Arabia through the eyes of Hamzah Jamjoom. The young man studied film at Chicago’s DePaul University and supposedly he is now returning home to make a one-man film with a small camera to reveal the beauties of its traditions and heritage. All the while, an Imax crew — that needs four of its members to lift the 300-pound Imax 3D camera — just happens to tag along.

He meets with a falconer, the archeologist, a woman writer named Nimah Nawwaband his own family in hit-and-run scenes that don’t give much of a feeling for anyone.

Much better are the film’s giant-screen views of the exotic peninsula’s wilderness and vast cities. The Imax camera in a helicopter drifts over these landscapes, then maneuvers through traffic and crowds of people. Well-staged scenes and even brief animation ably fill you in on the region’s 2,000-year history.

The 3D here is a thing of sheer beauty under water or roaming the desert. When the camera pulls back, as it must for the Hajj or the cityscapes of Riyadh and Jeddah, the 3D loses much of its effectiveness.

A brilliant musical score by Steve Wood, combining Arabian melodies with western tonalities, lends just the right exotic spice to the amazing images.

Helen Mirren acts as narrator although her voice is often superceded by the young filmmaker and other commentators.

Opens: May 27 in Los Angeles (MacGillivray Freeman Films)
Production companies: MacGillivray Freeman Films in association with the Royal Geographical Society, the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies
Director: Greg MacGillivray
Screenwriter: Jack Stephens
Producers: Greg MacGillivray, Mark Krenzien
Narrator: Helen Mirren
Director of photography: Brad Ohlund
Music: Steve Wood
Editor: Stephen Judson
No rating, 45 minutes

(via hollywoodreporter.com)

Saudi Antiquities Exhibition, Russia

admin — Sun, 22 May 2011 10:54:10 +0000

The Masterpieces of Kingdom’s Antiquities Exhibition will be held under the title “Saudi Archeological Masterpieces through the Ages”. This exhibition offers a journey through the heart of Arabia, orchestrated by photographs of the region’s sumptuous landscapes. It takes the form of a series of stopovers in some of the peninsula’s extensive oases, which in ancient times were home to powerful states or which, beginning in the 7th century, became Islamic holy places. The 347 items chosen, most of which have never left their country of origin before, provide an original panorama of the different cultures that succeeded each other within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia from prehistoric times through the dawn of the modern world. The second section of the exhibition highlights the role of Arabia as the cradle of Islam.

The journey for transporting 320 archeological objects of the exhibition “Saudi Archeological Masterpieces through the Ages” from Barcelona, Spain to the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg in Russia has taken five days including two days aboard sea.

320 archeological objects travel 5000 km and 4 European nations to arrive at Hermitage Museum in Russia

The transportation journey was not easy, where hauling trucks should have to go through four countries: France, Germany, Fenland and Estonia before reaching St. Petersburg, Russia, which required taking a sleeve measures to ensure objects secure and safe arrival.

The State Hermitage Museum is the third leg in the exhibition’s journey, which was hosted by the Louver Museum in Paris in France, last summer in its first leg and La Caixa Foundation, Barcelona in Spain in its second leg.

First Pop Art exhibition held in the Kingdom

admin — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 10:00:56 +0000

To meet the needs of a fast growing young and culturally savvy Saudi generation, the Al Faisaliah Hotel, A Rosewood Hotel has announced the opening of the Globe Gallery, an exciting new contemporary art space in Riyadh. Situated atop the Al Faisaliah Tower and just below the internationally recognized Globe restaurant, the Globe Gallery marks its opening with the first Pop Art exhibition to be held in the Kingdom.

The collaborative exhibition “Pop Goes Riyadh” is curated by Lam Art Gallery and features the works of Saudi Arabia’s top pop artists, including Talal Al Zeid, Abdalrahman Abujabal and Lanood.

A number of art students from the Art Skills Institute have also been included in the exhibition, which opened (Tuesday) and will run until 29th April.

A series of art lectures and workshops for art enthusiasts, students and children with special needs will also take place at the Globe Gallery during the week of the inaugural exhibition.

In addition to feeding the eyes and inspiration, the award winning chefs at the Globe restaurant will be creating culinary art with a specially themed pop art menu to complement the exhibition, while a display of pop art abayas add a fun fashion element to the event.

Peter Finamore, Managing Director of Al Faisaliah Hotel, A Rosewood Hotel which is owned by the Al Khozama Management Company commented: “The opening of the new Globe Gallery and the inaugural pop art exhibition add a new dimension to our offering at Al Faisaliah Hotel, much in line with the recent opening of our new contemporary South Wing. Appealing to a younger, discerning and culturally aware audience, these new additions to the property ensure we remain leaders in luxury hospitality in the Kingdom.”

Riyadh desert clean-up campaign

admin — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 19:52:32 +0000

The Riyadh Municipality has launched a clean-up campaign for the desert titled “Desert with No Waste” in a bid to increase awareness on cleanliness of desert land. Students, journalists and secretariat officials are participating in the clean-up campaign, which aims to raise environmental awareness among the people of Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The campaign focuses on collecting scattered waste items spread over a million square meters across various sites. Participants were given trash bags and plastic gloves to use for the clean-up process. Volunteers who joined the campaign ranged from young children to the elderly, many of whom brought their own bags to collect waste in.

Engineer Ahmed Al Bassam, Director of General Secretariat for Clean Riyadh, who launched the campaign in the Thumamah desert, said “the campaign’s objective is to educate the residents in Riyadh about the importance of keeping the desert land clean.”

“There were a significant number of visitors who participated with us in the campaign,” said Engineer Saleh Al Aiadi, the campaign’s General Supervisor. “We notice every year that the area we return to is relatively cleaner than it was the previous year.”

But the campaign is not all work and no play. It includes paragliding, which is a way to increase awareness on the cleanliness of desert lands, and is an entertaining activity for children, thereby encouraging their participation.

Around 15 to 16 tons of waste is removed from the desert every year but this year saw a significant reduction in the number, which points to the relative success of the campaign. (AlArabiya.net)

Raja Alem wins ‘Arabic Booker’ prize

admin — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:34:02 +0000

“The Dove’s Necklace,” which has just won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, also known as the “Arabic Booker.” The prize was announced on Monday. The Makkah native Alem — who already has several awards under her belt and considerable international recognition — will share the $100,000 reward with Moroccan novelist Mohammad Al-Ashaari, who won for his book “The Bow and the Butterfly.”

“The Dove’s Necklace” was published in Arabic in June 2010 and was the last to join the nomination. While Alem has expressed no interest in literary competition, her publisher persuaded her to allow the nomination of her work. Besides, she said, she supports the cause of the prize, which was formed in 2008 and is affiliated with the prestigious British Man Booker Prize Establishment.

The novel pays homage to Old Makkah, which faces the formidable challenges of modern times. In its opening pages, Alem put a voice to an alleyway in Makkah, which laments that the people disregard its experiences:

Since no one has ever concerned himself with my enlightenment I have learned to sit intoxicated in the gloom, inhaling a deep breath and trapping it for full minutes before slowly releasing it in the shape of rumors, legends and things forbidden with which I choke my inhabitants, who have begun scrabbling in their past for opiates, unable to bear their current grim reality or comprehend the atomic age that will grind them into the dust.

“The Dove’s Necklace” is a novel about a rare world that is dying. Makkah, according to Alem, is a city transformed and the book attempts to capture its last throes, its unique history and spiritual beauty and contrast these elements with its modern identity.

Alem is also participating in the 54th Venice Biennale which opens in June 2010 with a pavilion dedicated to Makkah in an exhibition entitled “The Black Arch.”

The International Prize for Arabic Fiction was first awarded in 2008 to Egyptian writer Bahaa Taher. Egyptian writer Yousif Zidan won in 2009 while Saudi writer Abdo Khal won last year’s prize.

arabnews.com