RIYADH: The first Yalla Sharqiah season will take place March 14-30, bringing sporting and cultural events such as the Red Bull Air Race and a multimedia exhibit of Van Gogh’s artworks to the Eastern Province.
The festival is part of Saudi Seasons, a tourism drive recently announced by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH), as one of the main pillars of the “The Quality of Life 2020 Program” spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, under Saudi Vision 2030.
The Sharqiah festival is the first of 11 “seasons,” beginning with the Eastern Province and continuing in different areas of Saudi Arabia, with entertainment options suited for each city.
Under the theme of “A Season of Culture and Energy,” the Sharqiah season will include a wide variety of events and exhibitions across the region, including an “immersive rig” experience highlighting the Kingdom’s energy sector and the Van Gogh exhibition.
Dammam will host the Red Bull Air race and Formula 1 H20 for powerboats, the Saudi Bike Show for motorbike enthusiasts, performances by Cirque Eloize and the East Coast Festival, highlighting local heritage.
Alkhobar will have a cultural village, Arabic concerts, an Egyptian opera, a Bollywood festival, the Color Run and a 3D mapping show. In Al-Ahsa , there will be an investment forum, cultural nights and an outdoor cinema. Other cities like Dhahran, Jubail, Hafar Al-Batin, Nuairyah and Khafji will offer programs that blend education and sports with entertainment and culture, including the Saudi Robotics Conference and Exhibition and the Aqua Bike Kingdom Championship.
The Sharqiah season is expected to provide 3,000 job opportunities for Saudis, combining the efforts of the SCTH, the General Entertainment Authority, the General Culture Authority, the General Sports Authority, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and Saudi Aramco’s King Abdul Aziz Center for World Culture (Ithra).
Yalla Sharqiah season to bring culture, sports events to Eastern Province
Yalla Sharqiah season to bring culture, sports events to Eastern Province
- The festival is part of Saudi Seasons, a tourism drive recently announced by the Saudi tourism commission
- Dammam will host the Red Bull Air race and Formula 1 H20 for powerboats
‘Echoes of Movement’ exhibition explores Italy–Saudi artistic dialogue
RIYADH: Italian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Carlo Baldocci recently inaugurated the exhibition “Echoes of Movement: Dialogues between Italy and Saudi Arabia,” presented within the framework of the Diriyah Biennale, the Kingdom’s leading contemporary art event and one of the most significant cultural platforms in the international art scene.
The exhibition, which runs until Feb. 12, is conceived as a space for cultural dialogue between Italy and Saudi Arabia, bringing contemporary artistic practices into conversation through the theme of movement, understood not only as physical displacement, but also as symbolic, historical and cultural crossing. Movement thus becomes a metaphor for travel, exchange and transformation — elements that have long shaped relations between peoples, territories and civilizations, particularly in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern contexts.
The exhibition reflects on journeying as a shared human condition, evoking dynamics of migration, encounter, and mutual influence that have profoundly shaped cultural histories and continue to define the present. In this sense, “Echoes of Movement” positions itself as a space for reflection on the circulation of ideas, forms and imaginaries, highlighting art’s capacity to serve as a universal language that transcends geographical and temporal boundaries.
The exhibition features works by Mimmo Paladino and Davide Rivalta, two leading figures in contemporary Italian art. Eleven lithographs by Mimmo Paladino offer a poetic, contemporary interpretation of the medieval treatise by Emperor Frederick II, “De arte venandi cum avibus” — a foundational work of European scientific and symbolic thought, conceived in a historical context shaped by dialogue among different cultures.
The text has been extensively studied by Prof. Anna Laura Trombetti of the University of Bologna, whose research inspired the exhibition. Through his distinctive symbolic and expressive language, Paladino reinterprets the treatise from a contemporary perspective, bringing historical memory into dialogue with present-day sensibilities.
Alongside the graphic works, the exhibition is enriched by a monumental sculpture by Davide Rivalta, whose sculptural practice — marked by strong evocative tension and direct engagement with space — amplifies the sense of movement and presence, inviting visitors into a physical and conceptual encounter with the artwork.
The exhibition was realized through a fruitful collaboration with Black Engineering, an Italian company renowned for its excellence in designing and producing major cultural and artistic events at the international level. Its portfolio includes high-profile projects such as the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, the Diriyah Biennale, the construction of the iconic Maraya building in AlUla, and the production and curation of numerous art festivals, as well as the teaser for the Salone del Mobile Milano in Riyadh.
Equally significant was the contribution of Particle, an Italian company specializing in advanced digital experiences, which developed a digital pathway for the exhibition. This enhances accessibility to the content and extends its availability beyond the show’s physical duration, strengthening the project’s innovative dimension and long-term impact.
