Anastasia Bondar, Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, is currently on a visit to Saudi Arabia, where she is participating in the 45th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. This session is taking place in Riyadh and will continue until September 25th.
The Ukrainian delegation, which also includes Mykola Movchan, Deputy Permanent Delegate of Ukraine to UNESCO, and Ivan Liptuga, Director of the Department of Culture, International Cooperation, and European Integration of the Odesa City Council, visited cultural institutions in Saudi Arabia.
Among them is the city of Diriyah, located on the northwestern outskirts of Riyadh, which was the first capital of the Saudi dynasty and played a crucial role in the founding of the country. The historic district of Al-Turaif is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage. Additionally, the delegation had the opportunity to visit the National Museum and the National Library, where, thanks to the initiative of the First Lady of Ukraine, O. V. Zelenska, the “Ukrainian Bookshelf” project has been introduced. This project aims to promote Ukrainian literature, both in its original language and in translations, in leading libraries around the world.
The Ukrainian delegation was deeply impressed by their tour of the museums and libraries in Saudi Arabia, as well as by the grand scale of cultural heritage preservation. They hope for fruitful future cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian sphere between the two countries.
