‘Cultural Memory’ begins documenting and digitizing national heritage

July 4, 2026 - 16:58 | Last updated July 4, 2026 - 16:58

Documentation, digitization, management and archiving of national cultural heritage. (King Abdulaziz Public Library)

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Ibrahim Al-Alawi (Jeddah) i_waleeed22@

The ‘Saudi Cultural Memory Center’ begins its work to document, digitize and preserve the Saudi story in all its details; from folk arts and traditional costumes, to literary and social transformations, following the Cabinet's approval to transform the organizational unit in the Ministry of Culture called "Cultural Archive" into a non-independent center named "Saudi Cultural Memory Center".

The center aims to preserve, safeguard and highlight the cultural memory of the Kingdom through documenting, digitizing, managing and archiving national cultural heritage, making cultural heritage elements accessible, enhancing integration and coordination with relevant authorities, and building a national knowledge reference supporting cultural identity.

Saudi Cultural Memory Center

Preserving identity and digitizing national heritage

According to the new regulation, the center aims to achieve a set of strategic goals centered on preserving, safeguarding and highlighting the cultural memory of the Kingdom, documenting, digitizing, managing and archiving national cultural heritage, in addition to making heritage elements accessible and enhancing integration and coordination with relevant authorities.

The new regulation grants the center broad powers to supervise the ‘National Digital Platform’, concerned with preserving and making accessible the origins of cultural heritage, in addition to managing the ‘Central Registry’ and a central database to protect heritage in its digital form, including Saudi heritage found outside the Kingdom.

12 specializations to enhance presence

The center includes 12 specializations, most notably working on setting policies, plans, programs and projects related to its areas of competence, and submitting what requires completing regulatory procedures regarding them, as well as setting standards, procedures and models related to the center's areas of competence.

The center is to set controls, rules and requirements for inventorying and documenting Saudi cultural heritage, and archiving it digitally, including Saudi cultural heritage found outside the Kingdom, and supervising its implementation in coordination with relevant authorities.

The center supervises the national digital platform that is concerned with preserving the origins and elements of Saudi cultural heritage, and organizing related matters, including enabling access to and benefiting from its content; in coordination with relevant authorities. It also supervises the central registry that includes basic information about Saudi cultural heritage of all types and ways to preserve it, and a central database to protect Saudi cultural heritage in its digital form within the center's competence.

It also collects information and data related to inventorying, documenting and archiving Saudi cultural heritage from the public and private sectors and individuals, and indexes, classifies, codes, maintains them, and organizes their circulation and makes them available to the public according to regulations and in coordination with relevant authorities.