- ARAB NEWS
- 26 Apr 2024
Since 1975
Riyadh, Rashid Hassan
German missions in Saudi Arabia will bring together a variety of art exhibitions and musical performances during a nine-day cultural event beginning on Friday.
The German cultural days event will highlight thriving Saudi-German ties and the rich and diverse cultural scene in the European country.
“With these events we aim to highlight the rich and diverse cultural scene in Germany and explore the huge potential that lies ahead of us when Saudi and German artists or musicians work hand-in-hand to create something new and unique,” German Ambassador Jorg Ranau said.
The cultural days will begin in Riyadh on Nov. 8 with the opening of four exhibitions.
An architecture exhibition will shed light on the German architects, planners and landscapers who have left their traces in the Kingdom over the past decades.
The exhibition will present remarkable buildings, masterplans and landscaping by German architects, including the Diplomatic Quarter by AS+P, the King Fahd National Library by Gerber and the public gardens and parks by Bodecker, which characterize Riyadh and are testimony to the long-standing cultural cooperation between the two countries.
Another exhibition will showcase scientifically relevant and appealing “images of science” from the research of the Max-Planck institutes, Germany’s foremost group of institutes for scientific research.
Two arts expositions will feature a German and a Saudi street artist and the works of Casa Magica, two German light and virtual reality artists.
Exhibitions on street art will present works by German artist Michel Pietsch and Saudi artist Talal Al Zeid.
Team Casa Magica, Sabine Weissinger and Friedrich Forster will present an exhibition of visual panels and flake objects connected to an augmented reality experience that can be displayed on the smartphones of the audience using the Artivive App.
On Nov. 9, a Saudi-German people’s festival will celebrate 30 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall and 90 years of the treaty of friendship between Germany and Saudi Arabia (then known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Najd).
The festival program includes a street-art performance by Pietsch and Saudi artist Turki Alromaih, an exhibition about the friendship treaty, and a public discussion with the ambassador.
“We believe that people-to-people ties and more broadly dialogue and exchange between our two societies are just as important as political and economic cooperation, they are the backbone of true friendship,” Ranau said. “Many Saudi tourists have spent their summer vacation in Germany and gained firsthand insights into our way of life. Now the Kingdom has opened its doors to tourists from all over the world, including Germany, and I am sure that many Germans will come to Saudi Arabia to explore this fascinating country on their own.”
German Consul General in Jeddah Holger Ziegeler will also celebrate the “Fall of the Wall” on its 30th anniversary on Nov. 9 with a surprise happening during the local reception for the Day of German Unity and a performance of 80s and 90s music.
The German cultural days will cover a diverse musical program with daily performances between Nov. 9 to 16.
The brass band “Blechreiz” will bring traditional Bavarian as well as classical and modern pieces to Riyadh and Jeddah while a classical piano trio will play a repertoire of European classical music and the Bigge Jazz Trio will perform with two Saudi singers.
The pop group YEY will introduce their own genre of music to Riyadh, which they describe as organic deep house with Mediterranean and Oriental influences.
DJ Saint Error from Halle will join forces with Saudi heroes of the electronic music scene in Jeddah.
German films will be screened from Nov. 10 to 16 at the King Fahd National Library at 8 p.m. (by invitation only).
In Riyadh, all exhibitions, concerts and film screenings will be at the King Fahd National Library. Most events are open to the public every day from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
