A music video entitled Hwages, which loosely translates to concerns, featuring a trio of veiled female artists with colourful clothing underneath, playing together and singing about the oppression women face in Saudi Arabia has not only gone viral, but has also divided the country, reported The Independent on 5 January 2017.

The women, while they are shown playing basketball, skateboarding and riding in bumper cars, sing lyrics such as: May men be eradicated as they cause us to have mental illnesses; may they all go crazy, they seem to be possessed.

Saudis on social media have called the video disgusting and extremely inappropriate, but many have also praised the video for breaking stereotypes and helping to empower women in the country, reported The Sun on 4 January 2017.

The video, which was released on 23 December 2016, has over 9.2 million views as of the writing of this article. Click here to watch the Hwages music video and to learn more about women artists in Saudi Concerts and cinemas corruptMeanwhile, Saudi Mufti Abdel Aziz Bin Abdulla Al Sheikh, the highest religious authority in Saudi Arabia, has denounced a decision by the government-affiliated Entertainment Organisation to grant permits for music concerts and to establish the countrys first movie theatre, reported France24 on 14 January 2017.

Al Sheikh warned the organisation not to open the doors to evil, saying that no good can come from music concerts and that cinemas allow men and women to mingle a move that would violate public morality, reported Saudi online news source SABQ on 16 January 2017.

Concerts and cinemas corrupt the public, Al Sheikh said. Cinemas might screen films with sexually explicit content, thus harming public morality, inciting blasphemy and destroying our values; foreign films would impact negatively on our culture.

These new initiatives are part of the countrys ambitious new Economic Reform and Diversification Programme known as Saudi Vision 2030, which was launched in April 2016 by Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, in part, to develop Saudi Arabias entertainment sector. History of censorshipWomen in Saudi Arabia live under harsh restrictions and art featuring women is often censored in the countrys male-dominated society.

In 2015 the Daily Mail reported that the country would censor album covers that were deemed to have sexy covers. In extreme cases, religious police were paid by the government to physically alter album covers by unwrapping individual CDs, removing the inserts and colouring over any exposed female flesh with a marker.

In response to such actions, three female artists in 2015 launched a poster campaign in Saudi capital Riyadh, pasting more than 400 posters that said Art is halal, meaning art is permissible, to provoke a discussion about the limits to freedom of expression people have in the country, reported Bustle in March 2015.

In 2013, the countrys Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (CPVPV) allegedly ordered music shops to put up signs that banned women from entering. In May 2015, authorities cancelled a concert scheduled at the Jeddah Amasy concert hall because the audience was going to be of mixed gender.

More recently, in 2016, the emir of the eastern region of Makkah banned the playing and carrying of musical instruments, headphones and speakers in public spaces. Also in 2016, the CPVPV in the Mayahel province stopped artists from performing music at a festival on two consecutive nights to prevent swaying and dancing which they deemed inappropriate and not worthy to be performed in front of women.

The level of restriction on freedom of expression in the country has gotten so stringent that in 2015 the United Nations human rights expert David Kaye expressed grave concern, noting a series of severe punishments against artists and citizens who expressed their beliefs and opinions about the country.

Photo: Screen shot from Hwages video/8ies Productions Sources

NPR 1 February 2017 Saudi women stunt hard (and dis men) in a music video gone viral

SABQ 16 January 2017 Mufti takes decisive stance on entertainment, concerts and movies are corruptive

France 24 14 January 2017 Saudi Mufti: Music concerts and cinemas corrupt the public

Stuff 9 January 2017 Women star in music video rebelling against banned activities in Saudi Arabia

The Independent 5 January 2017 Saudi Arabian women release video mocking kingdoms driving laws

The Sun 4 January 2017 Female pop band spark outrage in Saudi Arabia with music video mocking Donald Trump and condemning oppression of women

Daily Mail 25 March 2015 Cover up! How overtly sexy album artwork from singers like Madonna and Lady Gaga are censored for audiences in the Middle East

Middle East Eye 29 March 2015 Art is Halal poster campaign sparks lively debate in Saudi Arabia

Bustle 15 March 2015 Art is Halal posters by Saudi Arabian female artists ignite debate about censorship, a risky move in the kingdom More from Freemuse

3 March 2017: Podcast: Spotlight on Saudi female artists

8 July 2016: Saudi Arabia: Emir bans playing and carrying of musical instruments in region

20 January 2016: Saudi Arabia: Festival stopped due to swaying and dancing

17 December 2015: Saudi Arabia: Growing clamp down on freedom of expression

30 June 2015: Saudi Arabia: Concert with mixed gender audience cancelled

3 July 2013: Saudi Arabia: Women banned from entering music shops

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Saudi Arabia: Music video and government initiatives split society - Freemuse