Noor Riyadh, the world’s biggest annual citywide festival of light and art, is expected to have welcomed over 2.5 million visitors in the Saudi Arabian capital city, attracting local communities from families to artists, students, professionals and international audiences from across the globe.

With more than 2.5 million international, regional and local visitors having enjoyed the event to date, additional visitors are set to visit Noor Riyadh’s accompanying exhibition ‘From Spark to Spirit’ at JAX 03 (JAX District), which runs until February 4, 2023.

They can also continue participating in the festival’s program of over 500 special activities, which include tours, talks, workshops, family activities and music. Some of these are available online and via the app allowing the festival to be enjoyed by a wider audience outside of Riyadh and Saudi Arabia.

On November 3, 2022, 190 artworks and installations illuminated 40 citywide locations, showcasing immersive site-specific installations, monumental public artworks, ephemeral sculptures, art trails, virtual reality, building projections and drone shows transforming Riyadh into a dazzling night-time ‘gallery without walls’.

Renowned names in light art were brought together with an expanding roster of emerging and established local artists many for whom light was a new artistic medium within Saudi Arabia.

This year, the festival included at least 90 new commissions from international artists such as Daniel Buren, Shohei Fujimoto, Douglas Gordon, Tadashi Kawamata, Alicja Kwade and Jean-Michel Othoniel. They were joined by Saudi artists such as Ahaad Alamoudi, Abdullah AlOthman, Daniah Al Saleh, Rashed AlShashai, Sarah Brahim, Bricklab, and Muhannad Shono.

Artists from 40 countries as far and wide as Madagascar, Uganda, Japan, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Poland, France, United Kingdom and United States, were selected to display significant works of light art under the theme ‘We Dream of New Horizons’. With the festival co-curated by Hervé Mikaeloff, Dorothy Di Stefano and Jumana Ghouth, the theme centered around a sense of hopefulness for the future, with connotations that are positive, optimistic and reflective of a confidence in renewal and transformation. 

Speaking on the conclusion of the citywide installations, Riyadh Art Program Executive Director, Khaled Al-Hazani, said: “We are delighted that Noor Riyadh has created unique moments of joy across the city, nurtured artistic talent and delivered awe inspiring immersive experiences, providing visitors with an opportunity to appreciate world-class light artworks and rediscover the city of Riyadh in a new light. We look forward to bringing together a global community of visitors to Noor Riyadh’s accompanying exhibition and shedding light on the artists, curators and community engagement initiatives enriching Riyadh’s thriving art and culture landscape.”

The festival’s accompanying world-class exhibition entitled ‘From Spark to Spirit’ continues until February 4, 2023 at JAX 03 (JAX District), Riyadh, curated by Neville Wakefield (lead curator) and Gaida AlMogren (associate curator). The exhibition traces the role light plays in shaping our relationship to a world in which light itself has become a signal of change, exploring themes such as the ‘Technologies of Light’, ‘Architectonics of Light’ and ‘Consciousness of Light’.

Just as the Light and Space Movement, which began in California in the 1960s, reflected changes in the established order, this exhibition explores a landscape of light inflected by the rapid cultural transformations shaping the Middle East. While the exhibition acknowledges the histories that have been shaped by the experience of West Coast America and the West in general, the show is structured as a cultural dialogue.

Neville Wakefield, the exhibition lead curator, said: “As explored in ‘From Spark to Spirit’, it is evident that light in this world can be seen as an integral means of communication. We are now connected to each other by screens – by the light of information. We communicate with one another through the direct manipulation of light to form words and images that together map a collective consciousness, bringing us together in an era of rapid technological and cultural transformation.”

Exhibition artists include Alicja Kwade, Claudia Comte, Daniah Alsaleh, Diana Thater, Doug Aitken, Eli Joteva, Gisela Colón, Haroon Mirza, Hmoud Alattawi, Huda Al-Aithan, Jac Leirner, Jason Ting, Jim Campbell, John Edmark, Larry Bell, Lina Gazzaz, Maryam Tariq, Moath Alofi, Nasser Al Shemimry, Nasser Al Turki, Norma Jeane, Phillip K. Smith III, Refik Anadol, Dr. Saad Al Howede, Theories of Imagination (TOFI), UVA (United Visual Artists), Walaa Fadul, Dr. Zahrah Al Ghamdi, Zarah Hussain and Zeinab Alhashemi.

Noor Riyadh was the first of the Riyadh Art programs to launch, inaugurating what is becoming the project’s legacy of transforming Riyadh into a gallery without walls. Comprising of 10 programs, delivering more than 1,000 public art installations across the city created by local and international artists, and supported by two annual festivals, including Noor Riyadh, Riyadh Art is working to transform the capital into a vibrant, cosmopolitan city and enrich lives through creative joyful experiences, in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 goals.

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A graduation ceremony was held at Daegu Stadium at noon on the 20th. of Nov. More than 500 former and current pastors graduated.
Joint operation of a cooperative network with local governments in preparation for safety.

The Zion Christian Mission Center (Mr. Tan Young Jin, the Head of Zion Christian Mission Center) produced 106,186 graduates which was the largest amount of graduates as a single Christian educational institution.

The Zion Christian Mission Center, a Bible education institution of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, held the class 113 graduation ceremony of the Zion Christian Mission Center at Daegu Stadium on the 20th. A total of 106,186 people graduatedon this day, making it the world’s largest theological education institution.

For safety reasons, the number of people participating in the graduation ceremony in Korea was limited to 80,000. About300,000 people in total (Online or offline) participated in the graduation ceremony on YouTube live broadcasts in nine different languages.

The graduation ceremony was prepared thoroughly to prevent safety issue as it is highly concerned recently in South Korea. The Shincheonji Church of Jesus said, “For preparing this event, safety is the first, second and third.” adding, “We are creating a cooperative network with local governments to check disinfection, safety, traffic, and order several times and operate a control room for monitoring the event with police, fire departments, Daegu-si, and Suseong-gu Office safety officials.”

In addition, “the church itself allocated a total of 14,000 safety personnel to maintain order inside and outside the venue, and made participants enter and leave the event venue over four hours to prevent overcrowding.” he said. “About 180 medical staff and four ambulances are also on standby in case of an accident.” Emergency rescue training was conducted for all safety personnel, and all graduates also completed watching emergency rescue videos. “We emphasize that this completion ceremony was especially safety-oriented,” he explained.

The event consisted of the opening ceremony of Part 1 and the completion ceremony of Part 2. In the first part, starting with praise services, congratulatory speeches, congratulatory messages, representative prayers, and commemorative speeches of ChairmanMan-Hee Lee was followed. The second part included a congratulatory performance, a congratulatory speech by Tan Young-jin, the head of the Zion Christian Mission Center, a certificate of completion, a tassel turning, awardceremony, testimony from graduates, and a special performance.

Among the class 113 graduates, a total of 522 pastors, including 37 in Korea and 485 overseas, completed the program, as the proportion of pastors has increased significantly compared to other years. In this background, it is closely related to the creation of an online class environment due to COVID-19. As an environment where students can take classes without being aware of others was created, the number of pastors and seminaries increased rapidly. The two representatives of the graduates who announced their acceptance speech on this day are also pastors.

The fact that pastors who joined the introductory, intermediate course including Revelation (Advanced), were able to participate in education online without being aware of other people during the COVID-19 pandemic is the background of the increase in the number of pastors.

Heo Jung-wook, who shared the testimony as a representative of a Korean graduate at the completion ceremony, is acurrent pastor who has been pastor for a decade. After 20 years of ministry, he said, “I only learned traditional theology in seminary, but I didn’t know much about Revelation. Except for difficult words, he has taught only easy words to convey to the saints. I repent that I was a sinner who added and subtracted from the word of God,” he said. “I put down all my possessions and came forward to the truth.” I learned true theology that leads me to heaven, not to study of mankind. “I thank God for giving me a chance to live,” he said.

D.Jackson, a representative of overseas graduates, is also an Indian pastor who changed the name of the seminary to the Hepto Zion Christian Mission Center after signing an MOU after receiving an online Bible class at the Shincheonji Church in October last year. Currently, 294 members of the church, including the pastor in charge of the two churches, have completed the entire course of the Zion Christian Mission Center and are listed as the class 113 graduates.

Meanwhile, the Shincheonji Church of Jesus focused on contributing to the revitalization of the local economy and coexisting with local residents by holding the first large-scale face-to-face event in Daegu since the COVID-19 pandemic. All possible consumption activities, such as transportation, accommodation, and meals for 100,000 people, were made in the region to help local residents.

After the Itaewon disaster of South Korea, it was not confirmed whether to do the event or not, but rather than abandoning the win-win opportunity in consideration of the contract situation with local companies, it was decided to do the event focused on safety as much as possible based on the know-how of hosting large-scale domestic and foreign events.

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The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) said they have arrested two suspects following the death of a soldier in an attack on Gadaffi barracks in Jinja.

The army identified the deceased as Sergeant Simon Peter Eyagu. Sgt Eyagu was deployed together with Lance corporal (L/Cpl) Norico Kibirige to guard a small gate of Ambercourt road, with in the perimeter of Gadaffi barracks.

“Last evening an Attack occurred on our Soldiers guarding at Ambercourt road close to Gadaffi barracks at 2050hrs leading to the death by strangling and shooting of RA/110575 Sgt Eyagu Simon Peter, a UPDF soldier attached to Gadaffi Barracks Jinja Cantonment while his colleague had gone to buy some drink,” UPDF said in a statement on Friday.

UPDF said that in the attack two weapons SMG guns were taken and all efforts are underway to recover them.

“The attack on our guards will meet the necessary retaliation. We are working closely with the UPF and other security agencies to apprehend the criminals. Two suspects have so far been arrested and we have leads to apprehend the entire group,” UPDF said.

The army called upon Jinja residents and Ugandans are called upon to remain calm as these acts of criminality shall be dealt with decisively like we have dealt with many others before.

The attack became the third on security agencies in less than a month. On Monday 14 November, gunmen riding on a motorcycle attacked Kensington Apartments police post in Kyanja. The assailants fired bullets at the window of the police post but no police officer was injured in the debacle.

On October 31, a violent attack was carried out on Busiika Police Station where armed assailants shot at and killed two police officers on duty, injured two others, one critically, and thereafter, robbed two police guns from them.

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