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RIYADH: The Riyadh Art program has announced the participating artists for the Tuwaiq International Sculpture Symposium, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The event, scheduled to take place at ROSHN Waterfront, will run from Jan. 15 to Feb. 8, 2025, under the theme “From Then to Now.”

Using stone sourced from the Tuwaiq area, the completed pieces will be displayed around the city from Feb. 12 to 24 as part of the Kingdom’s national public art initiative.

A flagship project of Riyadh Art, launched on March 19, 2019, the Tuwaiq International Sculpture Symposium seeks to foster artistic and cultural exchange through community partnerships, workshops, panel discussions and other activities.

It also aims to integrate artistic practices into Riyadh’s cultural landscape, according to the SPA.

The registration period for the symposium’s sixth edition drew significant global interest, with more than 750 applications submitted from 80 countries.

An independent committee of art and sculpture experts evaluated the submissions, ultimately selecting 30 artists from 23 countries to create public art sculptures using locally sourced stone, further enriching Riyadh’s cultural fabric.

The 2025 symposium will be curated by architect and artist Sebastian Betancur-Montoya and sculpture specialist Manal Al-Harbi.

Betancur-Montoya said: “We celebrate the constant challenges faced by artists this year. These challenges are a major source of inspiration, allowing everyone to create a legacy that bridges the past, present, and future in innovative and humane ways.”

The symposium has had more than 120 local and international artists participate over the past five years. It mirrors Riyadh Art’s public initiative that works to enhance the city’s cultural landscape through art, and which has now housed more than 1,000 public art pieces in neighborhoods, parks and other spaces.

RIYADH: KSrelief, ��������Ƶ’s aid agency, continues to provide food assistance to vulnerable populations in several countries.
KSrelief distributed 500 cartons of dates on Thursday in the Red Sea State of Sudan, benefiting 5,162 individuals from displaced families. 

The agency also handed out 175,000 bags of bread to needy families, including Syrians, Palestinians and members of the host community in northern Lebanon.
This initiative benefited 125,000 individuals.
In Pakistan, KSrelief has distributed 2,300 food boxes in flood-affected areas of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, benefiting 14,227 individuals.

 In Syria’s earthquake-hit regions, KSrelief has distributed 747 food parcels and 747 hygiene kits to affected families in Al-Dana of the Idlib Governorate.
The aid, which benefited 4,482 individuals, is part of a continuing project that supports people affected by the recent earthquake in northern Syria.