Sharjah Culture celebrates the first decade of establishing the House of Poetry in Kairouan

Sidi Bou Said – Tunisia, December 20, 2015 – Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the Republic of Tunisia witnessed yesterday evening a wide cultural celebration on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the founding of the House of Poetry in Kairouan 2015, during the launching ceremony of the tenth session of the Kairouan Arab Poetry Festival, organized by the Sharjah Department of Culture in the period from December 19-21 with the participation of more than 40 creative people. Of Tunisian and Arab poets, male and female, artists and critics.

The opening ceremony was held at the Nejma Zahra Palace overlooking the Mediterranean coast in the Sidi Bou Said area of ​​the Tunisian capital, Tunisia, in the presence of His Excellency Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Owais, Head of the Department of Culture in Sharjah, Mohammed Ibrahim Al Qasir, Director of the Department of Cultural Affairs in the Department, and Dr. Tawfiq Qurera, Director General of the Translation Institute at the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, in addition to a number of Tunisian and Arab diplomats, intellectuals, writers, and academics, and a number of fans of the poem.

The poets participating in the first poetry session appreciated the initiative of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah to establish poetry houses, describing Sharjah as the “Princess of Culture,” stressing at the same time that it has never hesitated to support this pioneering cultural project throughout the Arab world.

Abdullah Al Owais said, in his opening speech, that the House of Poetry in Kairouan is a shining beacon for the Poetry Houses Initiative, pointing out what it has added to the cultural scene, as this initiative came to enhance the presence of Arabic poetry and consolidate its high status in the conscience of the nation as one of the most important pillars of Arab identity and an authentic tributary of creativity.

He added that the House of Poetry in Kairouan represented a shining beacon for this initiative. Since its opening, it has provided real opportunities for young poets to highlight their poetic productions alongside the pioneer poets who contributed to shaping the Arab poetic memory, until Kairouan became a forum for creativity where experiences meet and generations communicate.

He pointed out that His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah issued the first copy of the first phase of the Comprehensive Arab Encyclopedia of Sciences, Literature, Arts and Media project, which is a huge cultural project divided into four phases that 700 of the best scholars of this nation are working on. In the first phase, 60 paper volumes were completed and will be available to everyone through the Internet.

For her part, the Tunisian poet Jamila Al Majri, director of the House of Poetry in Kairouan, expressed her highest gratitude to His Highness, the Ruler of Sharjah, for his great works and said: “We are meeting today thanks to his pioneering historical initiative to establish poetry houses in the Arab world, and we congratulate His Highness on achieving the lofty goals of his initiative. There is no evidence of the success of achieving them than achieving these houses extending from the Gulf of the Arab world to its surroundings.”

She pointed out that during the past ten years, the House of Poetry in Kairouan organized more than 450 cultural events with the participation of about 1,300 creative men and women from Tunisia and the Arab countries, and that the outcome of the current year included the establishment of 44 cultural activities in which 140 creative men and women participated.

For his part, Dr. Tawfiq Qurera delivered a speech by the Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs, who praised the efforts of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, expressing the depth of her belief in the cultural and civilized project led by His Highness and stressing that his support contributed to the growth of a fragrant tree of joy, the House of Poetry in Kairouan, whose fruits are literary, critical, intellectual, aesthetic, and cultural.

She congratulated the House of Poetry in Kairouan on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of its founding, expressing her thanks for every sincere effort to raise the banner of culture in Tunisia, especially poetry, and to support the efforts of poets and writers.

She said that the success of the House of Poetry will grow more and more in its second decade, expressing the hope that it will continue to be open to the diverse experiences of the states around Kairouan in its east, west and south.

The first sessions witnessed the participation of four emerging talents, whose readings received remarkable interaction from the audience, which reflected the amount of interest in encouraging and embracing young poetic voices from the very beginning.

Successive sessions also witnessed the participation of a number of poets whose readings varied between emotional, humanitarian, and patriotic.

The festival was accompanied by an exhibition of publications by the Department of Culture in Sharjah and the House of Poetry in Kairouan, and a display of certificates and souvenir shields obtained by the House from local cultural institutions.

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