RIYADH — Laila Alfaddagh has been appointed director general of Saudi Arabia's National Museum. The Board of Trustees of the National Museum, headed by Minister of Culture Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan, took a decision in this regard, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Alfaddagh, holder of Master of Science degree in International Studies from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, is one of the renowned Saudi experts in the field of museums. She had worked as secretary of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) from 2010 to 2017 during which she participated in Ithra's first exhibitions and supervised the opening of its museum as its curator. She then became its director from 2017 till now. She has also instrumental in developing the first children's museum in the Kingdom, and the establishment of the Ithra Art Prize, which is regarded as the largest contemporary prize in the Arab world. Alfaddagh also left a clear imprint in the Art Café program, which was held as part of the Saudi Aramco Cultural Program in 2012, and that drew 1,700 visitors on a daily basis. In her new mission, Alfaddagh will work to implement the plans to develop the National Museum and upgrade the visitor's experience in terms of developing services and museum's content. This will be by maintaining global standards and levels that keep pace with the comprehensive cultural development that the Kingdom is witnessing thanks to the Kingdom's Vision 2030. The interest in the National Museum comes in the context of the ministry's keenness in the museums sector, as it identified museum as one of its 16 cultural sectors. The ministry also established a special commission for museums to establish museums as a storehouse of national and cultural legacy and a source of pride in the Kingdom's identity, history and heritage.
