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H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, met on 18 February 2022, with Mr. Dario Franceschini, the Italian Minister of Culture. The meeting was held in the presence of the Bahraini Ambassador to Italy, Dr. Nasser Mohammed Al Balushi, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture in the Italian capital, Rome.

H.E expressed her pleasure at this meeting, which reflects the depth of cultural relations between the two friendly countries, stressing the importance of strengthening the cultural sector at the international level, especially in light of the challenges faced by this sector during the past two years. In addition, H.E praised the outstanding level of cooperation and the constructive communication between Bahraini and Italian cultural institutions, yielding fruitful results, as reflected by much successful accomplishment of wonderful projects in the fields of arts, music, design and cultural heritage preservation. Indeed, Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities has cooperated with Rome Heritage Preservation Center to restore the mosaic of the Al-Fadhel Minaret in Manama, as well the close cooperation with the Italian Embassy in Bahrain in presenting a number of activities, including a concert by Massimo Theater from Palermo, as part of the Spring of Culture Festival 2022.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed various cultural issues of common interest and H.E Shaikha Mai invited Mr. Franceschini to visit the Kingdom of Bahrain and discover the wonderful Bahraini cultural experience, its landmarks and its ancient history dating back to the era of the Dilmun civilization.

Worth to mention that the Kingdom of Bahrain and Italy enjoy close cultural relations. Bahrain has also a great cultural presence in Italy, where it participates periodically in the International Architecture Biennale in Venice, and in 2011, winning the "Golden Lion" award as the best national participation. Moreover, the Kingdom of Bahrain had a strong significant presence at Expo Milan 2015, winning The Silver Prize Award for its “Green Archaeologies” pavilion "Green Antiquities" the Silver Prize in the category of architecture. Bahrain Culture Authority signed also a partnership agreement with the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts, which is one of the most important and oldest academic institutions for art in Europe and the world, resulting in mutual activities between the two sides. In fact, Italy also had a role in enriching the cultural scene in Bahrain, hosting various Italian cultural activities, including major artistic performances, lectures, seminars and various exhibitions displaying Italian arts and culture held at the Bahrain National Museum.