DAMMAM: The World Heritage Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has added the rock art in Hail to the World Heritage List.
The addition was made during the committee’s 39th session in Bonn, Germany, and became the fourth site in the Kingdom to be included in the list.
Other local sites include Madain Saleh, Dirriyah and Jeddah’s Al-Balad historic district.
Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH), said: “Global recognition for the huge historic value of this global heritage site will reflect positively on the whole Hail region.”
He said that the SCTNH had worked for two years with specialized international teams and partners in the Kingdom to prepare this site to meet all UNESCO’s requirements. “The commission has established centers to serve tourists and increased the number of employees there.”
Prince Sultan said: “There are a number of ideas and programs that will lead to highlighting this site as a living witness of the Kingdom’s heritage as well as its ancient civilization.”
Rock art in the Hail region includes two components situated in a desert landscape — Jabel Umm Sinman at Jubbah and the Jabal Al-Manjor and Raat at Shuwaymis.
A lake once situated at the foot of the Umm Sinman hill range has now disappeared but was formerly a source of fresh water for people and animals in the southern part of the Great Nafoud Desert.
Jubbah includes numerous petroglyphs and inscriptions on rock faces. Shuwaymis shows numerous representations of human and animal figures from the prehistoric period.
The ancestors of today’s Arab population have left traces of their presence in numerous petroglyphs and inscriptions on rock faces.
Jabal Al-Manjor and Raat form the rocky escarpment of a wadi now covered in sand. They show numerous representations of human and animal figures covering 10,000 years of history.
UNESCO’s 22 member state representatives lauded the Kingdom’s care for its heritage and early civilization, praising the richness and density of rock art in the Hail region.
Rock art in Hail joins UNESCO World Heritage List
Rock art in Hail joins UNESCO World Heritage List
Berlinale responds to backlash over Gaza-related comments
The Berlin International Film Festival has issued a statement after what organisers described as a growing “media storm” linked to comments about the war in Gaza and the broader role of politics in cinema.
Festival director Tricia Tuttle released a lengthy note late Saturday following criticism directed at several high-profile guests. The controversy began during the opening day press conference when jury president Wim Wenders was asked about the conflict in Gaza. He responded: “We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics,” a remark that sparked swift backlash online.
Indian author Arundhati Roy later withdrew from the festival, reportedly angered by the remarks.
Other prominent figures, including Michelle Yeoh and Neil Patrick Harris, also faced online criticism after responding cautiously to questions about politics. Harris stated that he was interested in “doing things that were ‘apolitical,’” a comment that further fuelled debate.
In her statement, Tuttle defended the festival and its participants, stressing the importance of artistic freedom. “People have called for free speech at the Berlinale. Free speech is happening at the Berlinale. But increasingly, filmmakers are expected to answer any question put to them. They are criticised if they do not answer. They are criticised if they answer and we do not like what they say. They are criticised if they cannot compress complex thoughts into a brief sound bite when a microphone is placed in front of them when they thought they were speaking about something else,” she said.
She added: “It is hard to see the Berlinale and so many hundreds of filmmakers and people who work on this festival distilled into something we do not always recognise in the online and media discourse… It is a large, complex festival.”
“Artists are free to exercise their right of free speech in whatever way they choose… nor should they be expected to speak on every political issue raised to them unless they want to,” Tuttle said.
