Saudi Arabia plans to develop its arts and media industry to counter negative "stereotypes" of the conservative kingdom, which has no public cinemas or theatres and is criticised for a lack of free expression.
The initiatives are part of the wide-ranging National Transformation Programme which sets five-year targets for diversifying the oil-dependent economy.
"The intention also is to transform the society," Culture and Information Minister Adel al-Turaifi told reporters yesterday after the NTP was endorsed by the cabinet a day earlier.
While private film showings do take place in Saudi Arabia and small art exhibitions have occurred, the Wahhabi Islamic thought on which the kingdom is founded forbids paintings of the human form and frowns upon music.
But under the NTP a Royal Arts Complex would be developed, as well as a Media City.
Ahmed AlMulla, a poet and director of the Saudi Film Festival, welcomed the step but said the kingdom is starting from "ground zero".
AlMulla, based in the Gulf coast city of Dammam, told AFP by telephone that the kingdom's artists have only been able to work part-time. The sector needs an infrastructure including a base in the kingdom's educational institutions.
Artists, he said, "were like a rare coin banned from circulation."
Turaifi said that although some Saudi artists and performers have exhibited and gained popularity abroad, they "did not find the platform and space to support them" at home.
That will change with the Arts Complex which "would help convey a picture of Saudi Arabia to the world," he said in the press conference with other ministers.
