Cultural Institutions Award

The Cultural Institutions Award is a national cultural award in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that aims to publicize and honor private and non-profit Saudi cultural institutions, based on their efforts in promoting culture.

The Cultural Institutions Award was launched as part of the National Cultural Awards initiative, which was introduced by Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan al-Saud, Minister of Culture, in 2019. Its inaugural edition took place in April 2021, while the second edition was held in 2022. It targeted cultural institutions across three sectors: public, private and non-profit, before its role was confined to the last two sectors. The Award seeks to strengthen the role of cultural institutions, which are concerned with promoting culture, in addition to developing an active database on these institutions and motivating them through creating an environment that encourages continuity, growth, and competitiveness.

Tracks of the Cultural Institutions Award include: the track of large and emerging cultural institutions in the private sector, and the track of non-profit cultural institutions.

The nomination can be submitted directly via the online platform by the cultural institution, another party, or specialized committees from the Ministry of Culture.

To apply for the Cultural Institutions Award, the nominated institution must be a private or non-private locally-established Saudi institution that holds a valid license. Information provided for nomination must be complete and correct. The institution must have been operating in the Saudi market for at least five years from the nomination date. Moreover, the institution must own, or partially own, all the public, intellectual, and special rights of the submitted product, which grants it the right to submit its work with the approval of the rest of the parties, in addition to submitting the supporting documents.

In 2021, winners of the Cultural Institutions Award in its inaugural edition are as follows:

Private Sector Track: King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra) Non-Profit Sector Track: The Saudi Heritage Preservation Society, The “We are Our Heritage” Society.
Social Responsibility Track: The electronic application Ketabi Lak.

In 2022, the second edition of the Cultural Institutions Award was granted to:

Winner of the Private Sector Track: Music House Institute for Training.

Winner of the Public Sector Track: Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA)
Winner of the Non-Profit Sector Track: Misk Art Institute.