Madinah’s cultural status highlighted

Madinah Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman yesterday opened an exhibition of 34 public and private agencies participating in the celebrations marking the selection of Madinah as Islam's cultural capital.
The exhibition in Aqeeq will continue until July 12. Prince Faisal toured the show and was briefed on its various exhibits, including photographs and models of various projects.
During the event, Prince Faisal received a check from the general secretariat of the yearlong celebrations as a donation to the Takaful Charitable Society for the Care of Orphans.
Prince Faisal instructed officials in the region not to buy him mementos, but to donate the cash to various charities.
Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, opened the festivities in March. Prominent Muslim scholars, historians and intellectuals took part in the opening ceremony.
The idea to choose a city in the Arab and Islamic world as the capital of Islamic culture for a year on a rotational basis, was introduced by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) in 2005. Makkah was chosen as the first capital of Islamic culture.
Prince Faisal is the chairman of the supreme organizing committee. Minister of Culture and Information Abdul Aziz Khoja is deputy chairman and Imam of Quba Mosque Sheikh Saleh Al-Mighmasi is the committee’s secretary-general.
About 400 activities will be held to mark the occasion. They include an exhibition on an area of 1,800 square meters displaying the various stages of the holy city’s history.
Students at Taibah University's art department displayed their work at an art show recently, as part of the university’s participation in the celebrations.
Taibah students displayed 1,000 pieces of art highlighting the significance of Madinah. Adnan bin Abdullah Al-Mazroue, the university’s president, opened the show.