The Saudi Ministry of Culture has launched the College of Arts at King Saud University in Riyadh, the first Saudi college dedicated to arts education in the Kingdom. The launch marks a strategic partnership between the Ministry and the University.
The inauguration ceremony, held at the university’s theater with the attendance of the Deputy Minister of Culture Hamed bin Mohammed Fayez and the university’s President Dr. Badran Al-Omar, celebrated the establishment of the college, which houses various cultural and scientific departments. These include a Design department focusing on graphic design, fashion, and jewelry; a Performing Arts department offering programs in theater, cinema, and music; and a Visual Arts department dedicated to teaching printing, painting, sculpture, and Arabic calligraphy.
The Ministry of Culture and its cultural bodies support the Arts College by providing expertise in these fields, aiding in the development of curricula, supporting faculty members, and offering training programs for students, ensuring the college’s needs are met.
This initiative reflects the commitment of the Minister of Culture, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, to education as a key driver of cultural growth and sector development under the Vision 2030 framework. Deputy Minister Fayez highlighted the Minister of Culture’s prioritization of education under the “Education First” motto, emphasizing the Ministry’s efforts in recent years to develop programs and projects for building cultural capacities across different learning stages, from early education to supporting practitioners in the workforce.
The establishment of the college represents a significant step in advancing higher cultural education in the Kingdom, promising substantial impact on national cultural development and providing an essential academic pathway for creative talents and the broader cultural field.
This event is part of a strategic partnership with King Saud University and is one of the first outcomes of practical efforts with local universities aimed at achieving the objectives of the National Culture Strategy and the derived strategy for developing cultural capabilities, meeting the labor market’s needs for cultural professions with highly skilled talents to lead the sector towards ambitious national goals.
The launch of the Arts College is among several projects under the cooperation agreement signed in December 2021 between the Ministry of Culture and King Saud University, where the Ministry and cultural bodies such as the Fashion Commission, Heritage Commission, Music Commission, Film Commission, Visual Arts Commission, and Theatre and Performing Arts Commission act as expert houses in their fields.
This collaboration supports nine areas with the university, covering disciplines and curricula, student affairs, research and publications, faculty members, events and forums, cultural professions, cultural programs, business incubators and accelerators, and the activation of cultural assets.
The Ministry of Culture aims to establish specialized educational pathways in cultural and artistic fields through its partnership with King Saud University, addressing the cultural sector’s need for qualified national cadres and increasing the number of academic specialists in various cultural professions, fostering national leaders and competencies within the Saudi cultural sector’s development project, in line with the strategy for developing cultural capabilities and achieving the ambitious targets of the National Cultural Strategy under Vision 2030.
