SAUDI ARABIA: A Saudi man has turned his clay home into a private museum to showcase his collection of newspapers. Ali Bin Sulaiman Al-Dubaikhi has spent a quarter of a century collecting newspapers with some dating back to the previous century

Record ID: 189320

  • Title: SAUDI ARABIA: A Saudi man has turned his clay home into a private museum to showcase his collection of newspapers. Ali Bin Sulaiman Al-Dubaikhi has spent a quarter of a century collecting newspapers with some dating back to the previous century
  • Date: 28th January 2014
  • Summary: CLOSE OF NEWSPAPER
  • Embargoed: 12th February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Saudi Arabia
  • Country: Saudi Arabia
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA2U09FD4TF7LJ5GO44UQKK0F9P
  • Story Text: A Saudi man in the city of Buraidah has turned his clay home into a private museum where he has put on display thousands of newspapers.
    Ali Bin Sulaiman Al-Dubaikhi who started his hobby at 13-years of age has spent most of his life searching and assembling collections of newspapers.
    Now aged 48 and with a collection that contains more than 7000 copies of newspapers, magazines and manuscripts, Al-Dubaikhi hopes to share his hobby with others that share his passion.
    Abdullah al-Yousef, the director of local Saudi newspaper 'Okaz' said he was impressed with Al-Dubaikhi's collection, calling on media students to make the trip to the museum located in the Qassim region.

    "I invite all those who are interested in media and those studying media in Saudi Arabia to visit this place. It has a combination of newspapers that are local and those written internationally," al-Yousef said during a recent visit to the newspaper museum.
    Each newspaper is carefully framed and displayed in the museum, covering the walls from top to bottom. Al-Dubaikhi says he cares about the cultural aspects of newspaper reporting and wants his museum to reflect that.

    "I was interested in collecting different pieces such as cultural newspapers, magazines, manuscripts, books and documents until they grew into a large collection of almost 7,000 newspapers and 1,000 documents and manuscripts. I tried to have this museum which cares about the cultural side," he said.
    The museum founder says some of the documents in his possession date back to the previous century, with one around 153 years old called "Yaman".
    Al-Dubaikhi who is also a teacher and a member of the municipal council in Buraidah says one of his most prized finds is a copy of a newspaper dating back to the Ottoman Empire called 'Hijaz', which cost him around 1,800 USD.

    "I had a great interest even up to the point that I was able to get 'Hijaz' considered the oldest newspaper and it is considered rare in the Arab world. It was found in a box behind the old buildings in Mecca after the expansion of the Two Holy Mosques. I bought it from an auction at the price of 7000 SR," he said.
    The museum is home to what Al-Dubaikhi believes is the first copy of Saudi newspaper "Umm Al-Qura", which is over 90-years-old.
    The Al-Dubaikhi Heritage Museum is open to visitors and researchers seven days a week.
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