Ithra
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The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (), also known as Ithra (, '''enrichment), is a cultural centre situated in
Dhahran Dhahran (, ) is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 143,936 as of 2022, it is a major administrative center for the History of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia, Saudi ...
,
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
. It was built by
Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- l ...
and inaugurated by
King Salman Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; born 31 December 1935) has been King of Saudi Arabia since 2015, and was Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. He is the 25th son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia. He assumed the thro ...
bin Abdulaziz on December 1, 2016. It is operated by Saudi Aramco. The center is located where the first commercial Saudi oilfield was found in March 1938. The center has a
museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...
, library, cinema, theater, and exhibition halls. It was designed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta. The center has been listed in ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine as one of the world's top 100 places to visit and attracted one million visitors in 2019.


Objective

Ithra was established by Saudi Aramco, the national oil corporation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The center's own stated aims is to “make a tangible and positive impact on human development by inspiring a passion for knowledge, creativity, and cross-cultural engagement for the future of the kingdom." At the start of the project, the initiative behind Ithra was to diversify Saudi Arabia's economy since oil, which dominates the country's economy, is limited. As Ithra developed, the motive behind it evolved to becoming a center of education and heritage while also promoting innovation and creativity to enrich the cultural life in Saudi.


The building

The building covers 80,000 square meters with its shape being inspired by the internal structural shape of oil-bearing rock formations. These rock formations are designed in a structure where three stones are on the ground while the fourth stone, the Keystone, is suspended and being carried by the other stones. This concept was executed to represent teamwork and how different components rely on one another. The Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta designed the building and the UK professional services firm
Buro Happold Buro Happold Limited (previously ''BuroHappold Engineering'') is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the env ...
led the engineering design. The levels of the building are arranged thematically and intended to suggest a progression through the ages. Areas dealing with history and the past are at the lowest levels, beneath ground level and the ground floor dealing with the present. The higher levels are mainly situated in the structure known as the Knowledge Tower, with the intention being that the knowledge communicated in the tower's teaching rooms will equip citizens for the future. The location of Ithra was purposely chosen near Prosperity Well, which is Saudi Arabia’s first commercial oil well. The reason behind this was to show the shift from traditional energy sources like oil to energy from people’s spirits, capabilities, and creativity. Another strategic choice was using silver tubes to cover the structures which is similar to the pipes used to extract the oil. Regarding the environmental point of view, the building was designed in accordance with prevailing LEED standards to minimize adverse ecological impact. For example, the plants in the surrounding gardens were selected from desert species and intended to minimize use of water and survive dry desert conditions. They also used other strategies to maintain sustainable like harvesting rainwater, recycle 80% of its waste, and using portable water. In 2023, Ithra received LEED gold certificate after three years of maintaining its sustainability of the environment. In April 2018, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture hosted the 29th
Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...
summit, this was the first time the summit had been held in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.


Exhibitions and events

Theater Ithra Theater's 900-seat auditorium has hosted international and regional performers. The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture has a stated intention to showcase the best of international culture as well as the best of regional, Arab and Saudi talent. As of May 2020 Ithra Theater has staged performances by the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra of Saint Petersburg, Russia; the
Vienna Chamber Orchestra The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus. History The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer, Heinrich Hollreiser, P ...
, of Vienna, Austria;
La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
of Milan, Italy; and the Iraqi oud player Naseer Shamma. In addition, Ithra has staged the
Manganiyar The Manganiar are a Muslim community found in the Thar Desert region of Rajasthan, India; mostly in the districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, and in the districts of Tharparkar and Sanghar in the bordering province of Sindh in Pakistan. They are k ...
Connection – featuring performers from Rajasthan, India; the live stage version of the Wizard of Oz; and Slava's Snowshow by the Russian clown and director
Slava Polunin Vyacheslav Ivanovich “Slava” Polunin PAR Short-term exhibitions The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture has a dedicated area for short-term exhibitions, known as the Great Hall, and featuring copper paneling. It has hosted an exhibition of original paintings by the Norwegian Expressionist artist
Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...
. This exhibition included an original print of
The Scream ''The Scream'' is an art composition created by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893. The Norwegian name of the piece is ('Screaming, Scream'), and the German title under which it was first exhibited is ' ('The Scream of Nature'). The agonize ...
, made by the artist himself. The hall has also hosted an exhibition of manuscripts by
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...
. The grand opening of Ajyaal Gallery hosts the inaugural and imaginative
Being Saudi
' exhibition by Kvorning Design, Copenhagen and built by Modelcraft Group, Riyadh. The exhibition allows visitors to engage with Saudi Arabian culture, across five different regions, and covers poetry, music, fashion and patterns in a non-traditional format. Conceived as an immersive visitor experience, ''Being Saudi'' communicates the kingdom's rich culture heritage in an innovative way. Global Knowledge Society Forum In 2013, The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture hosted the inaugural Global Knowledge Society Forum in partnership with
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Over 500 delegates attended the forum to listen to global, regional and national experts from government, academia, civil society and the private sector and actively discuss and share current developments in the creation, acquisition and dissemination of knowledge in order to achieve sustainable human development.


Facilities


Museums

The museum is situated on four levels and is arranged thematically into four galleries: contemporary art, Saudi heritage, Islamic civilization, and natural history and human ecology. The contemporary art, heritage and Islamic civilization galleries operate non-permanent displays and change their exhibitions on a regular basis. From 2018 to 2020, the Islamic civilization gallery hosted an exhibition of Islamic art in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.


Film screenings

Ithra Cinema is one of the first to be operational in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It displays a mix of movies, including popular international features, documentaries and independent arthouse-style features. Ithra also seeks to develop the Saudi film industry, through workshops, funding and training. In 2020, some films funded by Ithra were shown on Netflix as part of a content-sharing deal. These films were ''Wasati,'' directed by Ali Kalthami; ''Is Sumyati Going to Hell?'', directed by Mishaal Aljaser; and ''Predicament in Sight'', directed by Faris Godos. Ithra has also produced the feature film Hajjan, which premiered at
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
, and was directed by
Yomeddine ''Yomeddine'' () (English: ''Judgement Day'') is a 2018 Egyptian drama film written and directed by Abu Bakr Shawky, in his directorial debut. Starring non-professional actors, it follows Beshay (Rady Gamal), an outcast shunned and condemned by ...
director
Abu Bakr Shawky Abu Bakr “A.B.” Shawky () is an Egyptian-Austrian writer and director. His first feature film, '' Yomeddine'', was selected to participate in the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and was screened in the Main Competition section and compete for the P ...
. The film is influenced by American Westerns and is a coming of age story about a young man's camel race in Saudi Arabia.


Energy Exhibit

This exhibition is an introduction to the oil industry, energy – including renewables – ecology and technology.


Ithra Library

The library is one of the larger and more modern in the region. It is designed to host about 500,000 texts and includes a variety of digital resources. The library also hosts workshops, lectures and book clubs.


Theater

In addition to hosting performances, the theater also organizes events intended to develop theater in Saudi Arabia, such as coaching and workshops. The theater is equipped with 900 seats occupying a total area of 10,000 square meters. The theater displays local and international plays and it offers theatrical training workshops.


Collections and publications

Museum collections Ithra has a small but growing collection of rare objects, some of which are on display. These include a folio from the Blue Qur’an as well as a fragment of a manuscript of the Holy Qur’an from about 750 CE. Publications The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture has conducted and published research. In 2015, the center published a research report under the title "Reading and the Knowledge Society", which sought to analyze Saudi reading habits. The research was carried out in conjunction with the Arrowad group.


See also

*
List of things named after Saudi kings This is a list of things named after kings of Saudi Arabia. Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Reign: 23 September 1932 – 9 November 1953 * King Abdulaziz Air Base * King Abdulaziz Center For National Dialogue * King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture ...
*
Tourism in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is the second biggest tourist destination in the Middle East with over 16 million visiting in 2017. Although most tourism in Saudi Arabia still largely involves religious pilgrimages, there is growth in the leisure tourism sector. ...


References

{{coord missing, Saudi Arabia Museums in Saudi Arabia Dhahran Tourist attractions in Saudi Arabia Dammam