One Book, One Doha campaign will run until March 26.
Doha: Children from all over Qatar have learned about the book ‘Kalila and Dimna', one of the most famous books in the history of Arabic literature – through the One Book, One Doha campaign by Qatar Foundation’s Qatar Reads, whose festival takes place this week.
The festival will be held from March 23 to 26 at Hall 10 at Katara, and feature a range of activities, including an art exhibition, readings of Arabic poetry, writings in Arabic calligraphy, and watercolor painting. Its aim is to bring the community together for a unique creative experience.
Ahead of the festival, Qatar Reads, in cooperation with Qatar National Library (QNL), has held a series of sessions for the One Book, One Doha Book Club.
The sessions featured a discussion of the book ‘Kalila and Dimna’ – which collects 15 anecdotes, with animals as the main protagonists, that offer wisdom and guidance and the importance of its lessons in the past and the present, with children aged 9-16 being given the opportunity to create a painting that expresses the book and its characters.
Muneera Ahmed Al Buainain, Senior Information Services Librarian in the Children and Young Department, QNL, said: “Kalila and Dimna’s book addresses all segments of society of different ages and cultural backgrounds, as it is full of life stories that address us as individuals.”
“When reading the book, we feel that it is close to our generation, as we apply the same principles and values. Although there are some new and difficult words for children, it is an opportunity to learn new words and enrich their Arabic vocabulary. ‘Kalila and Dimna’ is a family book, which family members can read together and draw lessons and morals from.”
Aisha Al Kuwari, 16, one of the participants in the Book Club’s activities, said: “I participated in the event to learn more about the ‘Kalila and Dimna’ book, and through the stories I listened to, I noticed that there are many useful lessons.
“One of the most important ways of people learning is to learn from the mistakes of others in the past to avoid them in the future. I believe that telling these values and ideas through stories makes them become more firmly entrenched in our minds, which helps us to adopt them in our lives.”
To enhance the creative imagination of children, Qatar Reads, working with Qatar Academy Sidra, one of the schools under Qatar Foundation’s Pre-University Education - embodied the characters of ‘Kalila and Dimna’ through a puppet theater, helping them understand its stories and instill values and lessons.
The campaign also explained how literature contributes to shaping fashion, as Qatar Reads organized an event entitled ‘Fables in Fashion: Kalila Wa Dimna Night’ with InStudio Club, which was held at Galeries Lafayette, Katara, and allowed people to experience of silkscreen printing and design with animal prints.
Influenced by ‘Kalila and Dimna’, artist Zainab Al-Shaibani, a graduate of QF partner university Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar, has printed her own design on environmentally friendly bags, saying: “By reviewing the illustrations quoted from the book itself, I wanted to reflect the stories in the book in a new way.
