Bonds that free the mind

By 1914 Andrew Mellon was one of the richest men in the US. Since the turn of the century, he had been collecting paintings, his favourites being works of the old masters and British portraits. By the early 1930s he had amassed the greatest collection of his generation.

As a philanthropist, his most famous gift was the money and pictures he offered to establish the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. An even richer man, John Rockefeller, was also a cunning art collector and his wife was at the origin of New York's Museum of Modern Art. Mellon was the founder of Texas-based Gulf Oil Company, Rockefeller of Standard Oil.

Oil wealth used to promote art and culture: does that ring a bell?

In a welcome attempt, many Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are making a structured effort to establish a solid base of cultural activities in the region. Talking about culture - especially for a foreigner - is always difficult because it can be seen as judgmental and is, in any case, very sensitive.

Let us then state others' opinions. Analysing the Crisis of Islamic Civilisation, former Iraqi minister Ali Allawi argues that "the creative output of the 20 or 30 million Muslims of the Abbasid era [750-1258 AD] dwarfs the output of the nearly one-and-a-half billion Muslims of the modern era".

Any comparison is difficult but the simple message, which is Allawi's opinion rather than being backed by statistics, is that the Golden Age was a fertile intellectual period and that we do not find the same representation of Arabs in the current top positions of rankings like Shanghai's university ranking or the most visited museums.

The director of the Studies and Research unit at the GCC General Secretariat, Najib Al Shamsi, recently expressed his worries about the "cultural backwardness [that] is common in all Arab countries because of the weakness of civil society and restrictions on freedoms of opinion and views". Well, this may change in the future with GCC countries taking a top-tier role in the cultural world.

Whether they have a role indeed is a question of politics but it is also a matter of simple economics: the states of the Arab League have a combined GDP which is lower than the Dutch GDP if GCC countries are not included.

Those are the only credible candidates to spend significant resources on a budget item that is often seen as non-essential. To put it bluntly, the GCC has a historical responsibility in the cultural domain and, given the social changes in the region, culture shall play a pivotal function in the immediate future.

The percentage of the population under age 15 in the Middle East is double that of Western Europe and those under 24 make up 50 per cent to 65 per cent of Middle Eastern populations. A demographic explosion is often destabilising but can be managed with proper training and adequate economic opportunities at the end of the process.

Without an education that enables the young generation to frame hope inside an intellectual tradition and a cultural environment that channels emotions, angst inevitably results.

In a 2003 paper, RAND Corporation's Graham Fuller explained that much of the youthful spirit of rebellion against the status quo can be readily harnessed by extremist movements.

Art and cultural expression are key media for promoting a sense of togetherness and identity, the best cure against agitation. Culture is indeed a fantastic vector to express one's feelings and to reflect on our human condition. In a word, it is the foundation of peace.

It is also a great source of pride. Doha's Museum of Islamic Art, Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island and Muscat's House of Musical Arts shall become the landmarks of the Arab world.

Those are relayed by initiatives to support and promote culture, media and information. For example, UAE's new media content creation free zone, twofour54, has been established in 2007 in a fully independent administrative and financial capacity with the objectives of boosting the intellectual creativity in the nation and beyond - and generate cash and employment opportunities from it.

A whole range of significant initiatives launched by GCC heads of state provide prizes, grants, assistance and incentives to cultural activities, with the underlying philosophy that what matters is the propensity of continuously nourishing the intellectual and artistic lives of many.

- Olivier Renard is an advisor at the Secretariat General of the Research Council of Oman. The views expressed herein are his own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Research Council or any other individual staff of the Secretariat.