Saudi Minister Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud's 2025 Cultural Diplomacy and Vision 2030 Investments

Saudi Arabia's Minister of Culture, Badr bin Abdullah Al Saud, has a packed 2025 schedule focused on international cultural partnerships, including engagements with Albania, India, Uzbekistan, and South Africa. His ministry supported Saudi participation in the Bukhara Biennial in Uzbekistan, where he promoted the event. Domestically, as part of Vision 2030 to diversify the economy beyond oil, the ministry has invested SR81 billion (£16 billion) in cultural infrastructure since 2016. Key projects include the newly launched Riyadh University of Art with 13 colleges, the Diriyah Art Futures (DAF) center for new media arts, ongoing development of the AlUla heritage site—host to Desert X festivals—and the second edition of the Islamic Arts Biennale, which opened in January. Internationally, the ministry influenced the Common Ground arts festival's theme toward collaboration with China and funded a Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects at UNESCO's MONDIACULT 2025 conference. These efforts highlight Saudi Arabia's use of art as a tool for soft power and economic transformation.