"Sharjah Heritage" Highlights Afro-Arab roots at Sharjah African Literature Festival
Sharjah, 15 January / WAM / The Sharjah Institute for Heritage is participating in the second session of the Sharjah African Literature Festival, whose activities began yesterday in the University City Square, organized by the Sharjah Book Authority, and will continue until January 18 under the slogan “In the Footsteps of Africa,” celebrating African literary and cultural creativity and emphasizing the Institute’s commitment to its role in preserving heritage and enhancing its presence in international cultural events.
His Excellency Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Musallam, President of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, said that the Institute’s participation for the second year in a row in the Sharjah African Literature Festival reflects its keenness to highlight the common heritage between the Arab and African worlds, indicating that this participation comes in multiple forms that include literary, craftsmanship and artistic aspects, in addition to the performances of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage Band (Sharjah National Band), which evokes popular arts with Afro-Arab extensions.
Al-Musallam explained that the roots of Arab-African communication go back more than a thousand years and witnessed extensive cultural, commercial and social exchange, especially between East Africa and the UAE, especially the Emirate of Sharjah. He stressed that the festival embodies this historical relationship and highlights the cross-fertilization of Arabic literature with its African counterpart.
He pointed out that the institute is keen to reflect the common Arab and African heritage by presenting examples of the Afro-Arab heritage, pointing to the simulation of the craft of wickerwork and the arts of weaving, including models close to the Nubian art, in addition to presenting other Afro-Arab arts that reflect the unity and diversity of the cultural heritage.
He pointed out his participation in an intellectual session within the festival’s events and activities, during which he discussed mythical creatures of African origin, reviewing four mythical creatures and the cultural and symbolic meanings they carry in African popular memory.
Regarding his meeting with the First Lady of Zanzibar, Maryam Mwinyi, Dr. Al-Muslim indicated that she expressed her astonishment at the great similarity between Zanzibari and Emirati handicrafts, stressing that this similarity reflects the depth of the civilizational and cultural connection between the Arab and African worlds and the long history of interaction and mutual influence that brings them together.
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