Najlaa bint Ahmed Al-Khalifa, a Saudi prominent photographer, has hung down curtains off her weeklong private photo exhibition, held at Arab Gulf Countries Institute in Washington, it was reported here today. In remarks to the Saudi Press Agency, she said she is proud and happy of the success of the exhibition, citing the sizable turnout, diversity of attendees and their impressive personal remarks on the collection. She said the exhibition drew the attention of its visitors to the diversity of the nature of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, wiping out the notion, carried until before the opening of the exhibition by most of the visitors, that it is an all-out desert country. Al-Khalifa quoted some visitors as telling her that, to their surprise, it was the first time that they have come to know of some pretty green and mountainous vast areas in Saudi Arabia. She said they cited sites like Fifa mountains, Harrat Al-Waaba, Madaen Saleh, Al-Ola, Gara mountains, and Al-Mahmal oasis. She said the lesson derived from this exhibition is how foreign cultural exhibitions are important to introduce a country to outsiders. She cited Prince Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki, Saudi Ambassador to the United States, as describing photographers, artists and writers, following his visit to the fair, as cultural ambassadors of their countries. She concluded that, in addition, the exhibition stood as witness of the support and care bestowed by the Saudi leadership, government and civil society organizations for women in Saudi Arabia and their participation in the cultural and public life and their role in the society. A number of attendees have expressed, in interviews with SPA correspondent, their fondness of the exhibition which reflect parts of the cultural and natural wealth of Saudi Arabia. Among them were the President of the institute, who plays host of the event, Marcel Wahba and the organization's Vice Executive President Steven Chesi who said that arts is an international language. They said Al-Khalifa's exhibition cast light on the people-to-people contact mission of the institute.
