A ministry of its own
The Ministry of Culture was established in 2018, when culture was separated from the Ministry of Media. Its minister is appointed by Royal Decree, sits on the Council of Ministers and chairs the boards of the ministry's entities. Its headquarters are in historic Diriyah.
On 27 March 2019 the ministry launched its vision and roadmap around three objectives: culture as a way of life, culture as a contributor to economic growth, and new opportunities for international cultural exchange. Its logo is drawn as a DNA map of thirteen lines, one for each of the Kingdom's regions.
Eleven commissions
The ministry oversees eleven commissions: Literature, Publishing and Translation; Fashion; Film; Heritage; Architecture and Design; Visual Arts; Museums; Theater and Performing Arts; Libraries; Music; and Culinary Arts. Between them they cover some sixteen cultural sub-sectors.
In 2019 it launched the Cultural Scholarship Program, and in 2020 the Council of Ministers approved adding more than eighty cultural professions to the Saudi Unified Occupational Classification. Since 2020 the ministry has also dedicated each year to one element of heritage, from Arabic calligraphy to Arabic poetry, the camel and handicrafts.