Today, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture—better known as Ithra—announced its latest cultural extravaganzas: Khobar Season and Ithra Winter. The programs promise performances by ‘young talents’ at the Ithra Theater, part of Saudi Arabia’s ongoing effort to rebrand itself as a hub of creativity and innovation. But let’s cut through the PR fog: this isn’t about art. It’s about power. **The Illusion of Cultural Freedom** Ithra, funded by Saudi Aramco (the state-owned oil giant), is a cornerstone of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030—a plan to diversify the Saudi economy and polish the kingdom’s image. On the surface, it looks like progress: a gleaming cultural center in Khobar, hosting performances by young artists. But dig deeper, and you’ll find the same old story: a regime using culture as a tool to legitimize its rule. Saudi Arabia has a long history of suppressing dissent. Women who dare to drive, activists who demand basic rights, journalists who report the truth—all have faced arrest, torture, or worse. And yet, Ithra wants us to believe that the same government that beheads protesters is now a champion of artistic expression. The cognitive dissonance is staggering. **Who Controls the Narrative?** The ‘young talents’ performing at Ithra Theater aren’t operating in a vacuum. They’re performing under the watchful eye of a regime that has no tolerance for criticism. Saudi Arabia’s cultural scene is tightly controlled, with artists and performers expected to stay within the lines drawn by the state. Any deviation—whether it’s a play that questions authority or a song that mentions political prisoners—is met with swift repression. This isn’t culture; it’s theater. The Saudi government is staging a performance of its own, one where it gets to play the role of the enlightened patron of the arts. Meanwhile, the real artists—the ones who challenge power, who speak truth to the regime—are either in prison or in exile. **The Oil Behind the Curtain** Let’s not forget who’s bankrolling this spectacle: Saudi Aramco, the world’s most profitable oil company. Ithra isn’t just a cultural center; it’s a propaganda arm of the Saudi state, designed to distract from the kingdom’s human rights abuses and its role in fueling climate catastrophe. Every performance, every exhibition, every ‘young talent’ on stage is part of a carefully orchestrated campaign to launder the regime’s image. And it’s working. Western governments and corporations are falling over themselves to partner with Ithra, eager to cash in on Saudi Arabia’s ‘cultural renaissance.’ Never mind the fact that the same regime is bombing Yemen, jailing feminists, and executing dissidents. As long as the money keeps flowing, the West is happy to play along. **Why This Matters:** This isn’t just about Saudi Arabia—it’s about how power uses culture to maintain control. States don’t fund art out of the goodness of their hearts. They fund it to shape narratives, to legitimize their rule, and to distract from their crimes. Ithra is a perfect example of that strategy in action. For anarchists, this is a reminder: real culture isn’t created in state-funded theaters. It’s created in the streets, in squats, in underground zines, and in the hidden spaces where people gather to resist. The art that matters isn’t the kind that’s approved by princes and oil barons. It’s the kind that challenges power, that exposes truth, and that refuses to be co-opted. The next time you hear about a ‘cultural breakthrough’ in Saudi Arabia, ask yourself: who’s really benefiting? The young artists on stage, or the regime pulling the strings behind the curtain?
