At book fair, Al Kuwari talks about Arab culture Sunday, 08 August 2010 00:37

DOHA: Qatari Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Hamad bin Abdel Aziz Al Kuwari and Syrian Minister of Culture Ryad Naasan Agha gave last week the go-ahead signal for a series of cultural activities on the sidelines of Al Assad Library Book Fair.

A seminar on Arab capitals of culture commenced the activities and gave the chance to participants to reflect on whether these capitals played an effective role in pushing Arab culture forward.
Al Kuwari underlined the strength of ties between the state of Qatar and Syria, saying these ties gave strong impetus to relations between the ministries of culture in both countries, ushering in what he described as a “distinguished” partnership between the two ministries.
“Culture is our main topic today,” Al Kuwari said. “This is a really good opportunity for us to talk about this topic,” he added.
He said the Arabic language was the main pillar in the existence of the Arabs as a unified nation. He added that although this language was one of the strengths of the Arabs, it was also one of their weaknesses, because it was a vulnerable target.
“Nation’s have shrivelled up and died when their languages became weaker,” Al Kuwari said. “Ours is a time of conflicts among languages,” he added.