In keeping with its dedication to intensifying Sharjah’s and the UAE’s culturally enriching landscape, the Sharjah Book Authority, SBA, launched its ‘Cultural Salon’ on Saturday, in cooperation with Kuttab Publishing House.
The salon will function as a cultural hub all year round, organising a plethora of intellectual activities and events such as book-signing ceremonies, authors’ sessions, poetry evenings, discussion panels and reading meets involving a host of Emirati and Arab authors, critics and poets.
The Sharjah Publishing City, SPC, hosted this cultural majlis, which features a library with a wide collection of novels, poetry collections, and works on heritage, history, languages, religions, health, sciences, economy and children’s literature, etc., published by Kuttab and other UAE-based and international publishing houses.
Salim Omar Salim, Director of the SPC, said, “Launching the Cultural Salon aligns with the SBA’s and the SPC’s dedication to strengthening the UAE’s publishing sector, promote books and reading, as well as offering readers the opportunity to communicate with authors and intellectuals. We expect the salon to be popular among visitors and participants, given the fact that it is a unique space designed to host an array of activities that will enrich the local cultural sphere and enhance communication between all actors of the cultural and literary creative process.”
Jamal Al Shehhi, Founder and Director of Kuttab, said, “We are constantly seeking partnerships with government entities and public venues in the UAE for hosting cultural activities, and finally we have found a home at the SBA. This is our first partnership with a state-run literary body, and we are excited to be hosting a cultural salon each week for passionate readers and cultural enthusiasts. The details of our weekly activities will be published on our social media account well in advance, so I request all to watch our social networking spaces. They have all been designed to capture the imagination of the larger community.
“The projects implemented by the SBA play a vital role in boosting the publishing industry in the UAE and the Arab world. The best example is what we are doing in the SPC, which opens its doors to all local and international publishing houses and enables them to benefit from potential opportunities and services in the world’s first publishing free zone, characterised by high capacity and more flexible laws and legislation.”
The Cultural Salon’s inauguration ceremony was attended by a host of authors, intellectuals and publishers, who expressed their delight to be part of the initiative’s launch, which will support and foster the relationship between Sharjah and the publishing industry in general, particularly books.
Source: WAM/بتول كشواني/Nour Salman
