Makkah Gov. Prince Mishal bin Abdullah lauded Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI) for its latest contribution to the community in restoring the sculptures along Jeddah’s waterfront and giving them a new home within the Jeddah Sculptures Museum.

Prince Mishal congratulated ALJCI President Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, as well as ALJCI International President Fady Mohammed Jameel for spearheading this effort during the museum’s opening ceremony.

Jameel said that ALJCI felt honored to present this project as a gift to the Kingdom and its citizens. Preserving the city’s artworks, he said, would add to the beauty of Jeddah and its waterfront.

“ALJCI worked very hard to attract international companies specialized in the restoration of antiquities and sculptures to the Kingdom to work on this project,” he said. Ibrahim Badawood thanked Prince Mishal for inaugurating the museum and said that ALJCI’s contributions to the country represented an integral part of the government’s efforts to create projects, which serve Saudi citizens all over the Kingdom.

The Jeddah Sculptures Museum became a reality thanks to public-private sector cooperation, namely the Jeddah Municipality and ALJCI, which outsourced the restoration of sculptures that had been exposed to the elements for many years to UK experts.

The museum spans an area of 7,000 square meters along the northern part of the Jeddah Corniche between the Al-Annani Mosque and the Al-Salam Palace.

Visitors can find 26 sculptures created by international and Arab artists, including works by Henry Moore (UK), Victor Vazarelly and Cesar Baldicini (France), Joan Miro (Spain), Alexander Calder (US), Jane Arb (Germany), Rabia Al-Akhras (Syria) and Mustafa Sunbul (Egypt).