Another reason to visit The Kingdom
As Saudi Arabia prepares to open its doors to the world, the former conservative country has announced numerous highly-anticipated projects to welcome tourism. While a lot of the projects are hospitality based, the Kingdom is set to dip its toes into the world of museum’s.
What is Saudi’s newest venture? The Saudi Museum of Modern Art. In an effort to boost not only tourism, but also their cultural sector, the Kingdom will open this museum in the Bujairi neighbourhood of Diriyah outside of Riyadh. In a statement, it was announced that the project will be a collaboration between the Saudi Ministry of Culture and the Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA).
Bujairi is a Saudi treasure, as the neighbour is home to palm plantations and traditional mud-brick architecture, which was why the this location was chosen for the museum. According to the statement, they choose Ad Diriyah as part of the country’s plan to “make it an open destination for the world, rich in discovery, and encouraging creative artistic expression.”
It isn’t known yet who will be selected to design the building. However, what we do know is that the Saudi Museum of Modern Art’s architecture will be “designed according to a modern creative concept influenced by the traditional local architectural style.
Diriyah was the original home of the Saudi royal family, also known as the “pearl of Saudi Arabia.” Even though the UNESCO-listed site hasn’t been open to the public since 2010, it became home to the Formula E championship, Ad Diriyah ePrix, the first to be held in the Middle East.
Not only that, but the city is expected to welcome 27 million tourists, according to Jerry Inzerillo, Chief Executive of Diriyah Gate Development Authority.
