Saudi Gazette report

DHAHRAN — The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) is participating in “Saudi Design Week” as a strategic partner at the event’s sixth edition.

The five-day edition kicked off on Monday at the Riyadh Front. Ithra’s pavilion at Saudi Design Week features select offerings from Tanween, Ithra’s creativity season festival, which successfully concluded last month.

Saudi Design Week held under the theme “Designing Happiness”, is showcasing artistic and creative innovation while also highlighting the positive impact designs and art have on society positive by creating happiness and improving quality of life through Saudi Design Week’s diverse range of cultural and entertainment activities.

Abdullah Al-Rashid, Ithra’s head of programs, commented on the center’s participation at Saudi Design Week, saying: “Ithra’s participation in Saudi Design Week as a strategic partner falls under the center’s commitment to support Saudi talent and to showcase creative content across local and global platforms. Saudi Design Week provides visitors with the opportunity to experience the societal benefit of design in an innovative and interactive way. The event, similar to Ithra, additionally supports in contributing toward bolstering the Kingdom’s knowledge-based economy as well as its social and cultural diversification per Vision 2030 vision.”

Saudi Design Week is providing a variety of cultural and recreational activities for visitors including a series of workshops, lectures and interactive art performances.

Abdullah Al-Hawwas, creative programs coordinator at Ithra’s Idea Lab, will present a workshop entitled “From Science Fiction to Reality”, which will explore the transition period and recent discoveries brought about by the phenomenon “Internet of Things”; and how it has become an effective tool in facilitating daily tasks. Additionally, Rabah Alabdulqader, creative programs coordinator at Ithra’s Idea Lab, will deliver a talk entitled “Stories, Sound and Senses in the City”, which explores the role of sound in cities, the role of the senses in experiencing urban space and the implications that has on citizens.

Ithra is a creative and interactive cultural destination championing innovation diversity, celebrating creativity and encouraging collaboration via its programming and partnerships with the objective of energizing Saudi Arabia’s knowledge economy as well as its cultural and creative industries.