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| photo credit :SPA |
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has installed a 75-meter-long calligraphic mural on King Abdul Aziz Street. The mural was designed by artist Amal Felemban to enhance the beauty of Makkah. The mural presents a beauty that carries the heritage of people, their ideas and their history throughout the ages. The Makkah Municipality also organizes competitions for painting murals and drawing Arabic calligraphy, which it describes as one of the most important written and visual arts related to the Holy Quran. A team from the Department of Visual Arts at Umm Al-Qura University is also involved in improving the landscape of the city.
Beatification is not practiced in Saudi Arabia due to the country's official stance on the practice of Catholicism. However, the notion of city beautification in Saudi Arabia, or "beautifying forms or shapes" as the latter came to be known, started in the mid-1970s in the city of Riyadh. Currently, the approach to beautifying the cities of Saudi Arabia is predominantly opportunistic, with the Gardens and Beautification Department of the city managing the public open spaces. In recent years, the country has poured billions of riyals into beautifying its capital, Riyadh, with projects expected to create tens of thousands of jobs.
