A German-based quartet staged Saudi Arabia's first-ever performance of European classical music in a public venue before a mixed gender audience.
The concert, held at a government-run cultural center, broke many taboos in a country where public music is banned and the sexes are segregated even in lines at fast food outlets.
"The concert is a sign that things are changing rapidly here," said German Ambassador Juergen Krieghoff, whose embassy sponsored the concert as part of the first-ever German Cultural Weeks in Saudi Arabia.
Abdullah al-Sabhan, his brother and three friends received invitations from a German business associate, but after half an hour, they snuck out.
"I'm bored," said al-Sabhan, 26, an engineer who prefers Egyptian pop music and had never heard of Mozart. "Let me leave before the second piece begins."
His brother, Saud, dismissed the notion that gatherings involving men and women together might one day become the norm.
"Saudi society wouldn't accept it. And girls aren't used to such mixed gatherings," he said, adding that if he had a sister, she certainly would not have been allowed to attend.
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1 comment:
Heh. There was a convention at a local college here; mixed, male and female speakers and audience, quite recently.The girls acted pretty normal actually. Hahah. This also was not the first of its kind, ah well...Jeddah's obviously an entirely different world on its own. =P
Hmm. Criticism and mockery aside, things do seem to be changing, at a snail's pace of course, yet it is there.
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