Monday 27 / March / 2023
Muscat: The 39th Paris International Book Fair will be held in Paris on Thursday and Oman will be a special guest of the exhibition, which runs until March 19, 2019.
The Sultanate’s delegation is headed by Dr Abdulmon’em bin Mansour Al Hassani, Minister of Information and accompanied by representatives of official and private institutions, as well as civil society institutions, writers and literati taking part in the fair.
The Sultanate’s participation in this version of the fair is accompanied by many cultural events that represent the Sultanate’s cultural and civilizational aspects in international forums.
The Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra (ROSO) will also take part by performing some Omani folklore musical pieces.
The fair will feature a wide variety of Omani publications translated into French, as well as a special corner for screening documentaries on the history and culture of the Sultanate and an additional corner for the reception of senior visitors of officials, intellectuals and publishers to inform them about Omani publications and the cultural dimensions of the Omani civilization.
The cultural programme will start with the Sultanate’s participation as a special guest in this fair on March 15 with a lecture entitled “The Arabic and French Languages: Two Way Influence”.
The lecture will be delivered by Hassan Al Ramadani from the College of Tourism. A session will be also held on childhood and its nurturing in Oman.
The session will be moderated by Rolla Al Zain with the participation of Dr Amer Al Aysari from the Ministry of Education and former Minister Pierre Jacques.
After that, a number of publications will be launched and signed for a number of writers and poets. A lecture entitled “How Cinema Serves Archeology: Excavation in the Sultanate: Protection and Challenges” will be given.
This lecture will be given by Prof. Guillaume Gernez of the Sorbonne University, and Blanche Gichou, Director of the French Cinema Association, TV Producers and producer of Oman; The Treasure”.
The cultural programme also includes a seminar on the role of Nizwa Magazine in the cultural scene on the occasion of its 25th anniversary.
It will be moderated by Assem Al Shidi, with the participation of Saif Al Rahbi, Huda Hamad, Dr Issa Makhlouf and Dr Al Hawari Ghazali. The cultural events will conclude the first day with a poetry evening. It will be moderated by Louisa Nadhoor. Hasan Al Matroushi, Shumaisa Al Nu’maniya and Fatima Ihsan will take part in the evening event.
On the second day, a seminar on Omani-French Relations: Yesterday and Tomorrow” will be held in which Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, Secretary-General of the Foreign Ministry will be present.
He will be joined by Herve de Charette, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Jean-Marie Bockel, Chairman of Friendship Association with the GGC countries at the Senate, Renaud Salins, French Ambassador to the Sultanate, the historian Xavier Beguin Billecocq, and Mark Lavernier, researcher on Omani and Gulf Affairs, and moderated by Hassan Al Ramdani.
The lecture will be followed by a lecture entitled “The Diversity of Poetry and Literature in Oman and its Development” by Said Al Saqlawi, Chairman of the Omani Society for Writers and Literati. Dr. Aisha al-Darmakiya, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Cultural Club, will give a lecture entitled “The Pillars of Culture and Values of Knowledge in Oman.” The session will be moderated by Olga Andrianova.
This is followed by musical performance entitled “Omani Tunes Tour the World” by violinist Tahira Gamal and the pianist Zahraa Al Lawatiyeh. The Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra (ROSO) will stage various musical performances to conclude the second day.
On the third day, cultural events will begin with a lecture on “Transformations in Short Documentary Filmmaking in the Sultanate” by Director Mohammed bin Sulaiman al-Kindi, Chairman of Oman Film Society, and a session entitled “Sultanate of Oman: Where Tourism Meets Culture”.
The session will be moderated by Valerie Sapurtas, Head of Tourism Department at Le Figaro with the participation of Ranya Khuder, Director of Oman Tourism Office in Paris, Roche Jolieffe, General Manager of Oman Air Office in Paris, Michel Yves Labi, one of the pioneers of tourism in the Sultanate, Anne de Vandiere, a photographer, and Geraldine Garcon.
The event ends with a lecture entitled “Discovering History on the Roads of Oman”. It will be moderated by Olga Anrianaova in which Michel Barro Hetey, writer, Michel Hetey, photographer and Fabien Herpan, novelist will take part.
On the fourth day, the cultural activities of the day will begin with a lecture on “Omani Media and its Enlightenment Role” by Dr Mohammed bin Mubarak Al Araimi, Chairman of the Omani Journalists Association (OJA). The session will be moderated by Dr Majid Ne’ma. It will be followed by a lecture on the benefits of Omani frankincense. The session will be moderated by Stérine Le Maguire.
Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Baroumi, researcher at Nizwa University will give a lecture in the session. Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Busaidi, Chairman of Photographic Society of Oman of the Sultan Qaboos Higher Center for Culture and Science, will present a lecture themed “Omani Photography through A Book: Achievement”.
The session will be moderated by photographer Pierre China Arcabo. The last day of the exhibition will be concluded with a lecture about a documentary entitled “Oman Adventure has an Address” in which Dr Khalid Abdul Malik and Jerome Lachkine, Assistant Director of Photography and Production will take part.
Through this participation, the Sultanate aims to extend bridges of communication and cooperation with many relevant institutions concerned with publishing and translation in Europe, building knowledge communication on the Sultanate’s civilization and culture, as well as disseminating the culture of tolerance and peace as a civilized value.
