Editorial

Ideas

Essays, cultural questions, and analysis from the VCP conversation.

Essay

What Does It Mean to Build a Culture From Scratch?

Saudi Arabia's cultural transformation is unlike anything the modern world has seen — a deliberate, state-led effort to construct a cultural identity at scale, at speed, and in public view.

Cultural Question

Is Heritage a Foundation or a Constraint?

The tension between preservation and progress sits at the heart of every cultural policy decision in the Kingdom. How do you honor the past while building something genuinely new?

Analysis

The Creative Economy: Numbers Behind the Vision

Vision 2030 set an ambitious target for the creative economy's contribution to GDP. Three years on, what does the data tell us about progress, gaps, and the road ahead?

Profile

The Architects of Saudi Cultural Policy

Behind every major cultural initiative is a network of individuals who have spent years building the intellectual and institutional foundations for what is now unfolding.

Essay

Language, Identity, and the Bilingual Kingdom

Arabic and English coexist in Saudi Arabia's cultural landscape in ways that reveal deep questions about identity, aspiration, and who the Kingdom's cultural transformation is for.

Cultural Question

Who Gets to Tell Saudi Arabia's Story?

As Saudi Arabia opens up to the world, questions of narrative ownership, representation, and authenticity become increasingly urgent — and contested.