Raynald C Rivera
The inaugural Katara Arabic Novel Festival which opened yesterday promises to act as an effective platform in promoting Arabic novels globally and encouraging cultural interaction among Arab novelists.
The four-day festival hosts a number of cultural, literary, media and art figures from Qatar and other Arab countries and includes symposia, exhibitions and events celebrating the Arabic novel.
In his opening speech at yesterday’s launch, Katara General Manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti said as the festival comes within the ambitious strategy of Katara to make it an added value in the world of Arabic novels, it is hoped that it will be a beacon for culture and literature as well as a platform for wider cultural interaction among prominent figures and intellectuals.
“I hope that the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel will usher in a new era for Arabic novel,” added Dr Al sulaiti.
The opening day also saw the inauguration of the Katara Centre for Arabic Novel, one of the vital projects in Katara which is the first of its kind in the region as it specifically focuses on Arabic novels and provides services for Arab novelists. The centre is equipped with a library which houses modern and old Arabic novels as well as films produced based on Arabic novels.
The centre, which will continuously be updated and developed, also includes an archive and database for Arabic novels and a photography exhibition of prominent Arab novelists. Trainings and workshops on writing novels will be conducted by the centre.
A Katara Arabic Novel postage stamp was also launched yesterday. The stamp produced in collaboration with QPost was launched in line with the first edition of the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel.
Commemorative postage stamps are of great value as they enhance communication even beyond the country and introduce the events of social, political and national importance internationally as they reach different parts of the world, said Dr Al Sulaiti.
The stamp depicts an engraved picture of the prize in its distinct design and takes on the colour of the sand reminiscent of the desert common to Arab countries. There are 40,000 copies of the stamp which are now available in all post offices in Qatar for use in correspondence and for administrative use of Katara for its local and international correspondence.
Katara also hosted a meeting of the permanent committee for Arabic culture to prepare for the ministerial meeting on cultural affairs in Arab countries in collaboration with the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organisation (ALECSO).
Opening the meeting on behalf of Dr Al Sulaiti, Khalid Abdulrahim Al Sayyed, General Supervisor of KataraPrize for Arabic Novel said it was fortunate that the meeting was being held to coincide with the festival, a great Arab cultural event hoped to make quantum leap in Arab culture in general and in Arabic novel in particular.
This meeting, Al Sayyed said, was the first fruit of cooperation between Katara and ALECSO and would make Katara a cultural beacon as it would encourage Arab literary innovators.
Recently a number of memoranda of understanding were signed between Katara and ALECSO, one of which was making Katara a gateway for Arabic culture through the website specialized on art and literary works.
Dr Hayat Al Karmazi, Director of cultural Department in ALECSO, lauded the role of Katara in encouraging intellectuals and writers in different aspects and called upon Arab ministries of culture to nurture and encourage cultural innovative works, enhance Arab cultural activities and implement the ministerial decisions.
The meeting will discuss the preparation of a proposal on ‘Arab contract for cultural rights’. It will also specify the next country to host the 20th ministerial meeting, discuss the Arab Cultural Capital project, the Arab Prize for Cultural Innovations, Arab Cultural Days and the activation of Arab strategy for theatre development.
Also on the agenda are the cultural and heritage website for Arab countries, the convention for protection of Arab cultural heritage and organizing of specialized training course for preserving material and non-material heritage.
The main highlight of the festival is the Katara Prize for Arabic Novel, an annual prize launched by Katara at the beginning of last year whose aim is to encourage Arab novelists to strive for excellence and improve the quality of novels by creating a competition and giving appreciation to innovators.
The Peninsula
