France and Saudi Arabia sign nine cultural cooperation contracts

The French companies escorting Emmanuel Macron for his three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia still do not know if they will leave with juicy contracts in their bag. For now, France has capitalized on the only asset that the conflagration of the Middle East or the return of Donald Trump to the White House are not likely to compromise: culture. A key ingredient in the vast societal transformation operation undertaken by Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salman to diversify his economy and restore his disastrous image in terms of human rights. Tuesday December 3, on the eve of a probable fall of Michel Barnier's government, the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, and her Saudi counterpart, Prince Badr Bin Farhan Al Saud, announced nine cultural engineering agreements in areas covering both archaeology, cinema and photography.

Since February, the two ministers have met three times to relaunch the Franco-Saudi partnership beyond the Nabataean site of Al-Ula, the development of which was the subject of a bilateral agreement signed in 2018. “Saudi Arabia has big infrastructure and training needs, and it sees France as a centralized system providing access to a depth of resources”we argue Rue de Valois.

For twenty years now, under the leadership of the tireless Laïla Nehmé, French archaeologists have been excavating the ocher desert of Al-Ula, witness to a long-denied pre-Islamic past. The new agreement signed on December 3 provides for expertise from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap), in particular for excavations to be carried out in the new city of Qiddiya, where a gigaproject dedicated to sport and leisure is to emerge.

Heritage sites

An agreement with the Operator of Heritage and Cultural Real Estate Projects (Oppic) aims to support the renovation of historic Saudi palaces, including 23 royal buildings. In addition, another contract sealed with the Center for National Monuments provides support for the promotion of heritage sites and the implementation of a public strategy.

The Arles Higher School of Photography, associated with other French institutions, will contribute to the design and museography of a photography museum which should see the light of day in Riyadh in 2027. The National Heritage Institute will train 600 Saudi professionals. The Grand Palais and the Meeting of National Museums will also provide their expertise to Saudi museums in terms of boutique-bookstores. The National Higher School of Industrial Creation will lend a hand to the museography of the future New Arts Museum, dedicated to new technologies, whose inauguration in an existing building is planned in Riyadh in 2026.

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