Qatar guest of honour at Syrian book fair Sunday, 25 July 2010 05:47

Doha: The Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage last week received an invitation from the Syrian Ministry of Culture to participate in the 26th session of the annual Damascus International Book Fair, slated for July 29, 2010.

A delegation, headed by Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, is due to start a dialogue on the reasons for selecting Doha to be the capital of Arab culture.

The Director of Libraries at the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage Abdullah Nasser Al Ansari said Qatar was chosen to be the guest of honour at the Syrian book fair thanks to selecting its capital to be the capital of Arab culture.

He said Qatar would have its own pavilion in the fair, which would carry features from the Qatari environment.

“It’ll contain the publications of our ministry and others made by the Department of Culture, Arts and Research and Studies,” Al Ansari said. “There’s big demand on Qatari books,” he added.

He said this was the first time Qatar was chosen to be the guest of honour at the Damascus International Book Fair. He attributed this to Qatar’s ability to organise several successful cultural activities over the last few years.

“Syria has always been an active participant in the Doha International Book Fair since its first session,” Al Ansari said. “The Syrian culture ministry and publishing houses from the Arab republic take part in the fair,” he added.

Culture officials say preparations for the Doha International Book Fair were underway. They note that the next session of the fair would be extraordinary in the light of Qatar’s celebrations of selecting its capital to be the capital of Arab culture.

Club joins in Doha celebrations

Doha: The Fine Arts Section at Al Arabi Club started organising a series of artistic activities last week to participate in celebrations of selecting Doha to be the capital of Arab culture for the year 2010.

Abdullah Mahmoud Abdullah, the head of the cultural committee and a member of the panel of judges, said section members made several paintings on culture and arts.

“Other activities in the fields of sports, theatre, drawing, and music were also launched at the club,” he added.

Participants also used materials, such as water, colours, and cork in the activities.

THE PENINSULA