RIYADH, 21 January — The project which for 20 years was the vision of Prince Faissal ibn Abdullah ibn Muhammad and Tarik Alireza is now a reality.
In 1982, celebrated artist Gerhardt Liebmann was commissioned to paint many of the Kingdom’s historic and archaeological sites.
The archaeological sites provided the subjects for a number of paintings and in addition, the artist also painted portraits of King Abdul Aziz, King Saud, King Faisal, King Khaled, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd, Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and Prince Sultan, second deputy premier and minister of defense and aviation.
Years later, Brazilian photographer Humberto da Silveira was commissioned to photograph the sites Liebmann had painted. The paintings and photographs were first exhibited in Jeddah in Ramadan of 1999. The following year in the spring, the exhibition traveled to the UNESCO Building in Beirut and in the same year the paintings and photographs were exhibited in the Institut Du Monde Arabe in Paris.
The long-awaited Attawheed Exhibition celebrating the unification of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by King Abdul Aziz and the Kingdom’s great achievements since that time will be at the National Museum in Riyadh this month. The exhibition will be opened by Riyadh Governor Prince Salman tomorrow.
The “Attawheed Collection” book based on the exhibition includes general information and pictures of the paintings as well as the Kingdom’s history.
The book is another valued reference and record to be treasured and kept for coming generations to read. The main objective of Prince Faissal and Tarik Alireza is to celebrate the Kingdom’s great heritage and history with both the exhibition and the beautifully illustrated book. On its opening page, Prince Faissal writes that the purpose is for “every citizen who is aware of the importance of preserving our civilization and culture and to revive the concept of ‘Friends of Heritage’.”
