VENICE: His Highness Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, inaugurated the National Pavilion of the Sultanate of Oman at the 59th Venice Biennale in Italy; one of the most prestigious art festivals around the world.

The Sultanate of Oman’s participation was represented by highlighting the Omani cultural production, which emphasises the position of Omani artists among art makers at the global level, as well as promoting cultural communication between the Omanis and different nations worldwide.

HH Sayyid Theyazin said that this participation comes within the framework of implementing the Omani cultural strategy within Oman Vision 2040. The objectives of the Vision represented in focusing on the Omani cultural scene and its cultural diversity to mirror creativity and reflect the civilised face of the Sultanate of Oman as an integrated cultural system resembling a source of creativity and open to other cultures.

HH Sayyid Theyazin also thanked the Omani artists in general and the participants in this event in particular, wishing them success. He also commended the efforts made by the working team at the Sultanate of Oman pavilion and the organising team from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth to make this participation a success.

After the opening ceremony, HH Sayyid Theyazin and the audience toured the sections of the pavilion. HH Sayyid Theyazin was briefed on the works participating in this international art festival, which were created by Omani artists. The participating works express the richness of Oman’s cultural history and its unique traditions in visual arts. These works also highlight the Omani social and cultural environment, which, through the stages of its development, constitute a harmonious artistic scene that can be expressed through the means of contemporary art.

The inaugural exhibition of the Sultanate of Oman’s National Pavilion, which runs until November 27, 2022, brings together the works of three generations of Omani artists whose practice spans five decades of modern and contemporary visual art in the Sultanate of Oman and by exploring the dynamic and intergenerational dialogue of the Oman’s artistic movement over the past fifty years.

After the Venice Biennale season ends, the pavilion will be brought to the Sultanate of Oman and a parallel programme will be prepared that enhances the benefit of this historical participation locally. — ONA