São Paulo – More than 50 cultural festivals and exhibitions are going to take place this year in Doha, Qatar, which has been chosen to be the Arab Capital of Culture in 2010. Every year, an Arab capital is chosen to promote its culture, and this year it is Qatar’s turn. The events will start on the 28th at the Sheraton hotel, with the “Bait Al Hikma” (House of Wisdom) opera.
The Qatari minister of Culture, Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, announced last week the main events scheduled for the first half of the year. “The theme of the opening ceremony will be Islamic culture. The “Bait Al Hikma” opera harks back to the golden age of Arab-Islamic civilization,” said the minister. He added that it is a retrospective of the history of Arab and Islamic music, and that the aim is to pay tribute to Qatar and to Arab culture.
The activities scheduled for the first quarter should coincide with the 20th Doha Book Fair, currently taking place at the city’s exhibition centre, aiming to establish a connection between the event and Arab-Islamic civilization.
The capital is also going to host theatre plays “’The Pearl between Dasha and Gaffal” and “The Black Century”, inspired by the work “The Arabian Nights” and written by the Qatari playwright Hamad Al Rumaihi. Another opera to be featured is “Abu Al Qasim Al Shabi,” the name of a famous Arab poet.
Aside from theatre and music, Doha is going to host an exhibition of more than 500 pearls, at the Museum of Islamic Arts, starting on the 29th. One of the pearls weighs 6 kilograms, and is considered to be among the world’s largest. Painting, calligraphy and architecture will also be the themes of exhibitions in the city.
Music groups will feature singers from other countries, such as Japan, Poland, Syria, Tunisia and Morocco, aside from Qatar itself. For those who wish to learn more about Arab culture and its heritage in the globalized world, seminars will be held addressing three themes: “Issue of Arab cultural heritage between borders of identity and perspectives of globalization,” “The position of the language academies towards the discourse of Arabic language in Arabic media” and “the future of science in the Arab world.”
The events in Doha were devised to attract children and youths as well, by means of traditional games, workshops, festivals, sports competitions and forums. A conference on the marine environment and an aquatic show will also be held.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
