CARTHAGE, 24th December, 2022 (WAM) — Under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, Tunisia opened the activities of the Kairouan Festival of Arabic Poetry in its seventh edition, from 23rd to 25th December 2022, at the House of Wisdom in Carthage. Organised by the Department of Culture in Sharjah, the festival sees the participation of a large number of Tunisian and Arab poets, critics and intellectuals.
In attendance at the opening ceremony were Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Owais, Head of the Department of Culture in Sharjah; Rashid Mohammed Al Mansouri, the UAE Ambassador to the Republic of Tunisia; and Mohammed Ibrahim Al Qaseer, Director of the Cultural Affairs section at the Department of Cultural, other officials, , and a group of writers, academics, and those interested in poetry, along with local and Arab media coverage.
Tunisian poet Abdul Majeed Farhat, welcomed the audience with a poem that he dedicated to Sharjah, after which the director of the Kairouan House of Poetry, poetess Jamila Al-Majri, greeted the audience, stressing that the Houses of Poetry initiative and many other cultural events at the Arab and international levels express the unwavering care of H.H. the Ruler of Sharjah for intellectuals. She emphasised that H.H. is still financially and morally sponsoring his civilised project with the close follow-up of faithful people who tirelessly travel distances to share the poets of the Arab world in their homes to celebrate poetry and the word.
Jamila Al-Majri reviewed the activities of the House of Poetry during the current year, as it amounted to 45 activities and received more than 140 participants.
Abdullah Al Owais delivered a speech in which he highlighted the strong Arab brotherhood bonds through cultural events, saying: “The meeting is renewed in green Tunisia, and the bonds of Arab brotherhood are strengthened through a series of various cultural forums and festivals, whose regular attendance expresses the depth of brotherly relations between the UAE and the Tunisian Republic under the wise leadership of the two countries.”
The head of the Department of Culture expressed his thanks and conveyed the greetings of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, saying: “I am pleased to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to the state of Tunisia and the Ministry of Culture for their sincere efforts to organise this edition of the festival, and to display it in the most beautiful manner.”
Abdullah Al Owais and Mohammed Al Qaseer honored the participants on the first day of the festival by handing them certificates of appreciation and memorial shields, in appreciation of their intellectual efforts and creative contributions.
On the sidelines of the festival, an exhibition of the publications of the Department of Culture in Sharjah and the House of Poetry in Kairouan was held, after which the audience watched a documentary about the most important stations of the House of Poetry in Kairouan during the current year.
