OREANDA-NEWS. February 05, 2013. The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture held its first annual Creativity Forum in Dhahran with a series of presentations, panel discussions and interactive workshops featuring artists, scientists, architects, engineers, entrepreneurs and designers, reported the press-centre of Saudi Aramco.  

The two-day program focused on creativity and innovation with the theme of "Bridging the Gap between Conceptualization and Realization," and drew more than 600 professionals, educators, students and members of the local community.

Further public participation was encouraged through the Cultural Center's highly active Twitter account and the social media platforms of its followers. Participants found the event vibrant, full of youthful energy and inspiring.

The gathering opened with remarks by Abdulaziz F. Al-Khayyal, Saudi Aramco senior vice president for Industrial Relations, who said, "I believe this interdisciplinary gathering focused on creativity is unprecedented in the Kingdom, and reflects both the Center’s ambitions as a pacesetter institution and its commitment to explore and enhance the methodology of innovation."

He went on to say that "as we strive to grow vibrant industrial, manufacturing and services sectors, improve our educational system, and put in place the conditions necessary for a knowledge-based economy to thrive in the Kingdom, we need creativity and innovation." 

Speaking of the King Abdulaziz Center, a major cultural and educational facility being developed in Dhahran by Saudi Aramco, Al-Khayyal said, "Part of our mission is to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and to be an incubator for inspiration and innovation — which is what is happening today and tomorrow with the Creativity Forum. The Center is also championing the interdisciplinary, art-science approach to innovation.  In short, we want to support and celebrate the creative talents and innovative professionals we have among us, and enable them to translate their fresh ideas and new ways of seeing the world into tangible results."

Al-Khayyal concluded by saying, "We need to have an authentic Saudi voice in the great global discussions of our time, and to ensure that our country and our citizens are creators of unique ideas, meaningful cultural expressions, innovative companies, and forward-looking technologies and solutions."

The first day’s speakers and panelists included contemporary Saudi artist Manal AlDowayan, Saudi industrial designer Ahmed Angawi; Joe Davis, Artist in Residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University; the Canadian visual artist Karim Jabbari; Nabeel Koshak of Umm Al-Qura University; and the Dutch virtual artist Sander Veenhof, as well as two panel discussions dedicated to "Building a Creative Economy" and "Crossing the Line Between Art and Science."

The session concluded with two hands-on, interactive workshops that investigated the links between architecture and design and explored the use of light to create nighttime displays of Arabic calligraphy; workshop facilitators were Saudi architect Ahmad Baageel, Saudi interior designer Sara Al Humaidhi, and Karim Jabbari.

The Creativity Forum’s second day was opened by Mohammed Y. Al-Qahtani, vice president for Saudi Aramco Affairs, and featured a series of presentations and panels related to architecture, engineering and sustainability with special reference to the iconic King Abdulaziz Center facility, which is now under construction. 

Among the speakers were architect and scenologist Professor Uwe Bruckner; Roberto Fabbri of Buro Happold, which is developing the Center facility’s innovative steel pipe facade or "skin"; Jenny Osuldsen of Snohetta, the architects of the King Abdulaziz Center; science communicator Tom Pringle; rammed earth construction specialist Martin Rauch; and construction engineer Thomas Spitzer.

The day’s panel discussions highlighted the challenge of making the King Abdulaziz Center more than an architectural landmark, as well as "Pushing the Boundaries of Industry."

The Creativity Forum will be an annual event, and will continue to explore issues related to creativity, innovation, cultural expression, architecture and design, as well as the positive impact of the creative industries on society and the economy.

The public captured the event with various favorable tweets.  One tweet from a local engineer stated: "the creativity forum showed me that the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture is not just a monumental building. It will also be a source of enrichment for the region in all things creative and innovative."