British wax museum in Saudi Arabia .. What has changed in the Kingdom's position of statues?

Imran Abdullah

The Saudi Entertainment Authority plans to set up the famous British Wax Museum in Riyadh and Jeddah.

Madame Tussauds is the most famous wax museum in London and was founded by the sculptor Mary Tussauds, known as Madame Tussauds.

It is one of the main attractions in London, where wax products are presented to historical, artistic, political and sporting figures, including Churchill, Hitler, Shakespeare, Kim Kardashian, Angelina Jolie and Queen Elizabeth.

"The famous wax museum, Madame Tussauds, will showcase to the Saudi audience the world's most eminent figures carved on wax in a very precise way," said Turki Al-Sheikh, who recently assumed the chairmanship of the Entertainment Authority.

Among the Saudi figures to be carved with wax is the figure of King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, the second king of the country.

Fatawa forbidding statues
In his response to the ruling on the manufacture and display of statues, a member of the Supreme Council of Saudi Scholars Sheikh Mohammed bin Saleh al-Othaimeen years ago that "the making of the statues if they were of the spirits are not permissible," stressing that it is forbidden except statues that are not of the living, The same view was expressed by the Grand Mufti of the former Kingdom Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bin Baz in the total fatwa.

There are no statues in the Kingdom on the basis of these fatwas, which prohibit the building, but obliges the guardian to destroy them, if any, but the recent transformations witnessed by the Kingdom does not abide by the customs on which the Kingdom was founded.

Despite the expansion of entertainment in the conservative kingdom founded on the alliance of princes and elders, the margins of freedoms are shrinking and narrowing, while prison doors open to dissidents, activists and even the silent ones who do not support the steps of the young prince and the New Testament.

The new changes in Saudi Arabia, which is at the heart of the 2030 vision of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are opening a cinematic role, allowing women to attend sports events in stadiums and driving cars, increasing artistic and sporting events, and the influx of Arab and international singers to the Kingdom for concerts.

More entertainment
The head of the entertainment in Saudi Arabia Turki Al-Sheikh introduced a new strategy for entertainment in the Kingdom, the most prominent items to allow the issuance of licenses to play music and performances in cafes and restaurants.

"This is an important sector," Al-Sheikh said at a conference on Tuesday to announce the new strategy. "We will allow, in sha Allah, to issue licenses for live performances of all restaurants and cafes in Saudi Arabia starting today, to play musical, musical, improvisation, .

He spoke about the atmosphere of this openness and the background of the Saudi, and said in his speech, "we were kidnapped intellectually in the past," but stressed that the body will not bring events contrary to the customs of Saudi society.

The Saudi king Salman bin Abdul Aziz has dismissed the Chairman of the General Authority for Entertainment Ahmed Khatib from his position suddenly without explaining the reasons.

The dismissal came at the heart of a controversy that has not been interrupted for months in and outside Saudi Arabia on the activities and activities of the body and the nature of the picture that you want to paint for the country of the Holy Haram in the coming days. The newspaper "Sabd" Saudi Arabia at the time that the decision of the royal exemption was issued on the basis of what exceeded the effectiveness of the Circus in Riyadh Recently, the appearance of some of the circus players in clothing has been described as inappropriate.

The semi-naked appearance of the circus players has raised demands for bloggers to stop what they call "moral disintegration" and escalated and criticized the body, such as "demanding" and "stopping."

What about infrastructure?
The entertainment agency previously announced a large number of entertainment shows and competitions to be organized within the new strategy. She said the theater will return more and that it will host senior Arab actors and perform famous plays in different parts of the Kingdom.

It plans to host many Western theater performances, circus shows, and musical events featuring Arab and Western singers, as well as live comedy shows. It will also produce Saudi versions of international music programs such as The Voice.

The increase in recreational activities and the activity of the Authority in exchange for the decline of the voices of religious and civic associations and institutions raises questions about the objectives of this frantic trend towards entertainment, especially as the change began suddenly and in a shocking manner, not taking into account the conservative environment governed by sharia law and tribal and family controls.

While different segments welcome such projects and are at the heart of the natural change and reform process of cities and society in Saudi Arabia, others see it as largely a transgression of social and religious reality, and it was first diverted to improve citizens' conditions, infrastructure projects and basic services.