JEDDAH, 1 March 2006 — Jeddah Mayor Adel Faqeeh and Yemeni Consul General Muhammad Al-Qutaish inaugurated the first Yemeni culture, photo and art exhibition in the city’s historic downtown on Monday.
The five-day exhibition marks the first step in the municipality’s plan to support and highlight Jeddah’s multicultural flavor, the mayor said.
“I felt like I was a tourist in Yemen as every picture and exhibited item reflected the rich culture of that ancient society,” he said.
The mayor said that the Al-Bunt Museum would serve as an important place for hosting various cultural exhibitions in the future. The newly created Culture and Tourism Department in Jeddah is active in promoting the city’s cultural potential in the context of tourism.
“The department has a special allocated budget to upgrade the cultural scene in Jeddah and we expect a number of events within the few coming months,” he noted.
Al-Qutaish said that the exhibition took place thanks to personal efforts by the members of the Yemeni community in Jeddah.
Muhammad Al-Wesabi, the exhibition organizer, said the exhibition includes 700 different pictures of Yemen that were taken by 13 Yemeni photographers. The exhibition also includes a fine arts section with paintings by Yemeni artists.
“The idea of the event started as a dream,” he said, adding that members of the Yemeni community initially approached the municipality.
A group went to Yemen and took shots of various provinces to highlight the different landscapes and architectural aspects. “We gathered the photos, designed the exhibition and the dream turned into reality,” he said.
Al-Wesabi said the attendance in the beginning was overwhelming and it inspired them to organize more cultural and art exhibitions about Yemen in the future.
Nabeel Al-Yafi, an organizer and participating artist, said holding such an exhibition is good to create more understanding about the rich and ancient culture of Yemen.
