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On 18 December 1878, Sheikh Jassem bin Mohamed bin Thani succeeded his father as the ruler of Qatar.
With that, Qatar became a country with a vision… a country that would find unity, grow rapidly, and reach toward ever-higher heights.
National Day, also known as Founder’s Day, celebrates the rise of Sheikh Jassem as the father and founder of the State of Qatar.
It was founded in 2007 to give people an occasion to honour the history and identity of their country, and to commemorate those who have worked and continue to work to make Qatar a great nation.
The 18th of December is a special day – a day of unity for the people of Qatar.
source/content: qatarnationalday.qa
December 18th, 2021
H.H. the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani participated in Qatar’s Arda (traditional sword dance) held at Amiri Diwan Yard to celebrate Qatar National Day.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced that Arabic calligraphy was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as a monumental cultural symbol in the Arab and Islamic worlds.
The addition was underpinned by the fact that Arabic calligraphy “represents the story of a civilization, heritage and culture, and that it is closely linked to the Arabic language,”
After a successful collaboration between 15 Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia and under the supervision of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization, Arabic Calligraphy: Knowledge, Skills and Practices has been officially added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In addition to the importance of its use in religious texts, calligraphy has played a pivotal role in the advancement of the Arabic language throughout history. For centuries, it has contributed to the transfer and spread of Arab culture, customs and religious values, in the process instilling a sense of pride and belonging among Arabs.
It is the ninth element registered by the Saudi Kingdom on this list, after registering eight elements of the intangible cultural heritage. Arabic calligraphy is a symbol of Arab identity, and has contributed to the transmission of culture and religious texts throughout history.
Minister of Culture Dr. Ines Abdel-Daim said Egypt being chosen as the capital of Islamic culture for 2022 attests to Egypt’s outstanding cultural role in the world.
Ines Abdel-Daim said Cairo is a city of diversity and cultural richness reflecting many of the salient features of human civilisation in general and the Islamic civilisation in particular, as it has always been a meeting-point of civilisations, old and modern, and a unique centre of art, intellect, and creativity.
Director General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (ICESCO) Salim bin Mohammad Al-Malik participated in the gathering that took place in the Cairo Opera House’s Small Hall to elaborate on the details marking the start of the festivity.
source/content: english.ahram.org.eg
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Egyptian Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Daim and Director General of the ISESCO Salim bin Mohammad Al-Malik during the press conference in Cairo on Tuesday (photo courtesy of Egyptian cabinet)
Egyptian star Mohamed Mamdouh received the Best Actor Award for his role in Abu Saddam, which premiered at the festival.
The Best Actress Award went to Swamy Rotolo for her performance in A Chiara, directed by Jonas Carpignano (Italy – France), while The Golden Pyramid Award for Best Film went toThe Hole In The Fence, by director Joaquin del Paso (Mexico, Poland), and produced by Fernanda de la Peza and Joaquin del Paso. Blind Spot, by director Lotfi Achour (Tunisia, France) won the Best Short Film Award.
creening over 111 films from 63 countries, the activities of the CIFF’s 43rd edition ran from 25 November to 5 December, including 34 world premieres, workshops, seminars, as well as ceremonies to honour a number of renowned filmmakers, including Egyptian actors Nelly, Karim Abdel-Aziz and Indian composer A.R. Rahman.
The CIFF awards went to:
International Competition awards
Henry Barakat Awardfor Best Artistic Contribution: Jose Angel Alayon for the cinematography of They Carry Death (Spain – Colombia)
Best Actress Award: Swamy Rotolo for her performance in A Chiara, directed by Jonas Carpignano (Italy – France)
Best Actor Award: Mohamed Mamdouh for his performance in Abu Saddam, directed by Nadine Khan (Egypt)
Naguib Mahfouz Award for Best Screenplay: Péter Kerekes and Ivan Ostrochovský for 107 Mothers, directed by Péter Kerekes (Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Ukraine)
The Bronze Pyramid Award for Best First or Second Feature of a Director: Aloners, by director Hong Seong-Eun (South Korea)
The Silver Pyramid: Small Body, directed by Laura Samani (Italy, France)
Special Jury Award for Best Director: Laura Samani for Small Body (Italy, France, Slovenia)
The Golden Pyramid Award for Best Film: The Hole In The Fence, by director Joaquin del Paso (Mexico, Poland), produced by Fernanda de la Peza and Joaquin del Paso
International Short Film Competition awards
Youssef Chahine Award for Best Short Film: Blind Spot, by director Lotfi Achour (Tunisia, France)
The Special Jury Award: It’s Nothing Nagy, Just Hang Up!, by director Youhanna Nagy (Egypt)
The Horizons of Arab Cinema Competition awards
Saad Eldin Wahba Award for Best Film: Awarded for directors Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige for their film Memory Box (Lebanon, France)
The Special Jury Award: Fiasco, by director Nicolas Khoury (Lebanon, the Netherlands)
Best Non-Fiction Film Award: From Cairo, by director Hala Galal (Egypt)
Best Acting Performance Award: Afef Ben Mahmoud for her performance in Streams, directed by Mehdi Hmili (Tunisia, Luxembourg, France)
Special Mention: A Second Life, by director Anis Lassoued (Tunisia)
International Critics’ Week Competition awards
Shadi Abdel-Salam Award for Best Film: Awarded to Ameer Fakher Eldin, director of The Stranger (Syria, Palestine, Germany)
The Special Jury Award: Wild Roots, by Hajni Kis (Hungary, Slovakia)
Special Mention: Actress Arcelia Ramírez for her performance in La Civil, by director Teodora Ana Mihai (Belgium, Romania, Mexico)
Best Arab Film Award: The Stranger, by Ameer Fakher Eldin (Syria, Palestine, Germany), produced by Tony Copti, Jiries Copti, and Dorothe Beinemeier
Special Mention: Fiasco, by Nicolas Khoury (Lebanon, Netherlands)
FIPRESCI Award: Tomorrow, directed by Dhafer L’Abidine (Tunisia)
Audience Award:Daughters of Abdel-Rahman’, directed by Zaid Abu Hamdan (Jordan)
Nayla Audi. Daughters Yasmine Audi and Julie Audi.
Twenty-four years ago, Nayla Audi published her only book: “The Houses of Beirut.” It was created for children — an oversized book in the shape of a house — but at Dubai Design Week last month, adults, too, were opening the ‘doors’ of its cover to reveal the old-school watercolors (created by Audi’s friend, the painter Flavia Codsi) within.
The book’s current revival was made possible by Audi’s two daughters, Yasmine and Julie, who published a new edition in the wake of the Beirut Port explosion last year, having found a copy of the book — a nostalgic memento of their childhood — that had survived the damage inflicted on their family home in the city’s Gemmayze neighborhood.
“It really affected us personally,” Julie, who lives in London, told Arab News. “We thought we needed to do everything we can to preserve this book — to re-edit and try our best for these houses to stay. We grew up taking all these things for granted. But now, with a bit of maturity and age, we also realize that it’s important for us to continue what our mom started.”
The original version of the book, published in both English and French, was, Julie said, popular among the Lebanese.
The original version of the book, published in both English and French, was, Julie said, popular among the Lebanese. (Supplied) / arabnews.com
Many of those heritage houses, some of which were built over a century ago, were seriously affected by the explosion and the sisters have stipulated that all proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the Beirut Heritage Initiative, launched in 2020 to restore badly damaged historical buildings.
For the reprinting of the hand-bound book, the sisters kept the story as it was, (although they printed the English version only) and even turned to the same family-run printing press — Anis, established in the late 1950s — that published it in the first place. Like many businesses in Beirut, Anis was practically destroyed, so getting things off the ground has been a struggle.
Both Julie and Yasmine were born in the US, but feel a strong attachment to Lebanon. They flew to Beirut after the explosion and that experience reinforced their belief in the necessity of chronicling the city’s architectural traditions.
source/content: arabnews.com
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Nayla, Yasmine and Julie Audi. (Supplied) / arabnews.com
Born in 1966, Obeidi is an Iraqi-Canadian artist, who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Baghdad in 1990.
He left Iraq in 1991 and obtained a diploma in New Media from Ryerson University, Toronto in 1998.
He also obtained another diploma in Film Production from HIF Film Academy, Los Angeles and received his MFA from the University of Guelph, Ontario in 1998.
Architect of Fire Station Artist in Residency – Doha, Qatar and Nabu Museum, Lebanon.
Obeidi works in a variety of mediums and his artworks have been exhibited widely around the world.
Mona Sewilam has the COMESA media award (TV category), on the sidelines of the 21st COMESA Heads of State and Government Summit held in Egypt’s New Administrative Capital.
The winning documentary is an abridged special edition of one of the episodes of her programme titled “ON Africa” produced and aired on ON Network TV.
Titled “COMESA: Between Equal Opportunities and African Integration” the film was presented, scripted and directed by Sewilam.
It focuses on the important role of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) whose 21 member states have a population of 583 million which is about half of Africa’s population, and with a gross domestic product of $805 billion, and a global export/import trade in goods worth $324 billion. This renders COMESA the largest market for trade and investment in Africa.
The documentary which was mostly filmed in Zambia where the COMESA secretariat is based also highlights Egypt’s efforts to boost intra-African trade and achieve African integration. The documentary covered the significance of the Cairo-Cape Town Road that runs through Zambia. It filmed the successful Zambia-Egypt Joint Farm Venture located in Zambia, which will benefit from the road and COMESA’s incentives on exporting its products to COMESA member states like Egypt.
Sewilam previously won the COMESA award on the sidelines of the 20th COMESA Summit in the Zambian capital Lusaka.
source/content : english.ahram.org.eg
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Mona Sewilam wins the COMESA media award in TV category
To mark the UAE’s Golden Jubilee, local flower delivery service Floward organised an event to break not one but two world records.
Visitors showed up at the Address Montgomerie in Dubai, to help create the world’s largest word and number made out of flowers.
The floral display spelt out “UAE 50”.
Dubai delivery service Floward is the creator of the floral display now in the Guinness World Records.
source/content: thenationalnews.com
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Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Ahmed Bucheeri, Official Adjudicator – MENA giving Abdulaziz B. Al Loughani, Floward CEO the Guinness World Record certificate for the World’s Largest Flower Number and the Largest Flower, Floward Word Guinness World Record. Ruel Pableo for The National
___________________________________ UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (U.A.E.)
Princess Haifa bint Abdulaziz Al-Mogrin was recently elected to chair the UNESCO Executive Board Program and External Relations Commission for two years.
During the 213th session of the UNESCO executive board in Paris, the executive council named Princess Haifa, Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to UNESCO, for the position.
Princess Haifa received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Riyadh-based King Saud University in 2000 and a master’s degree in science in economics with reference to the Middle East from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in 2007.
