Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, President of the General Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, has opened in Washington D.C. the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Marvelous Masterpieces Expo, organized by the Saudi Tourism and Antiquities Authority in collaboration with Sackler and Fryer Museum, an affiliate of Smithsonian Foundation for Museums and Research. Those who were present at the opening ceremony, which took place last night, were Prince Turki al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies; Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United States of America; G. Wayne Cliff, Secretary General of the Smithsonian Foundation for Museums and Research, Dr. Julian Rabie, Director of Sackler and Fryer Museum, a number of princes, Saudi and U.S. dignitaries, members of Islamic, Arab and foreign diplomatic corps accredited to the U.S., those interested in antiquities arts and a big number of U.S. and Arab media representatives. The exhibition includes some 320 masterpieces illustrating the history of the Arab peninsula since the Stone Age to the present time. Addressing the gathering, the U.S. hosts welcomed the attendees, expressing pleasure their museum have been selected by Saudi authorities to host the event as the exhibition's first leg of its tour of the United States. Mr. Cliff and Dr. Rabie said the exhibition would provide a rare opportunity to the U.S. public to enjoy historical and civilizational aspects of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which were not known to them after having been confined to a few number of antiquities experts and scientists. --More
