ABU DHABI - Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, inaugurated yesterday the 17th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.
The opening ceremony was attended by Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development and a number of officials and ambassadors.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed visited the stands of the participating publishing houses and listened to the publishers who informed him about their publications.
In his opening word, Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoon, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, expressed his extreme happiness for this huge cultural festivity where intellectuals and creative people meet in the spring of culture in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Sheikh bin Tahnoon described the current session of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair as a regional and international comprehensive cultural event, and one of the most effective means to support culture and heritage conservation plans.
He also stated that Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage is utilizing all its resources and capabilities to place Abu Dhabi International Book Fair amongst the world’s top book exhibitions, especially that Abu Dhabi will have a much bigger cultural role in the near future.
He added that the Authority, in collaboration with Frankfurt Book Fair, created a new and effective strategy to develop Abu Dhabi International Book Fair through a comprehensive promotional plan, which succeeded to draw hundreds of publishers and thousands of books from all over the world, and enriched the accompanying cultural and artistic activities.
Sheikh bin Tahnoon stressed that the significant cooperation with Frankfurt Book Fair was because it is one of the world’s biggest cultural events and has a rich history of about 500 years, and the beautiful city of Frankfurt is a main center for culture and book fairs in Germany and all Europe.
“We look forward to having culture blossoming in Abu Dhabi and the entire Middle East, and to making Abu Dhabi International Book Fair a world attraction to activate cultural and tourism movement towards Abu Dhabi and the UAE, which would contribute to the interaction between the deep-rooted cultural heritage and values of Abu Dhabi Emirate and our country and the cultural heritage of the other nations and peoples.” Sheikh bin Tahnoon stated.
This year, 399 publishers from 46 countries including 17 Arab states are participating in the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, and the total exhibition area is 13,464 square meters, which is double the size of last year’s exhibition area.
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair this year also hosts more than 1000 personalities concerned with culture, heritage, literature, and media from across the globe, in addition to thousands of cultural personalities from the UAE.
The event also gives a new concept for books with the objectives of activating publishing, translation, book industry, book distribution, and copyrights; discussing problems and finding solutions; and holding daily forums to discuss literature and religious tolerance.
The activities of the event include the ‘Orientalism – A Tribute to Arabia’ exhibition, which displays 100 unique works of art by a group of orientalist artists. The event also coincides with the launch of the ‘Prince of Poets’ project by Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage after the great success of the ‘Million’s Poet’ project.
It also coincides with the exhibition of ‘the Masterpieces of Cultural Heritage of Humanity’, which is held in collaboration with UNESCO and includes films and 90 works of art from 70 countries, reflecting the various aspects of oral and intangible heritage of humanity, and also includes all the masterpieces that won the Sheikh Zayed Award for World Heritage.
On the 3rd day of the event, an award ceremony will be held for the winners of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, and this will be a unique opportunity to meet with intellectuals and creative personalities from across the globe as the best expression for the culture of tolerance, love and peace.
The exhibition this year provides a corner for children, where they can enjoy reading with children story writers and the team of ‘Majed’ magazine. Dar Majroudi for Publishing co-organizes the Children’s Corner, presents gifts to the participants, holds reading sessions in Arabic, English and French, and also holds coloring competitions daily from 12:30 to 01:00 p.m.
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