UAE, Tunisia Sign MoU to Revamp 'Home of Ibn Khaldun'

Initiative to restore the house of the great Arab scholar and philosopher Ibn Khaldun in Tunis. WAM
Initiative to restore the house of the great Arab scholar and philosopher Ibn Khaldun in Tunis. WAM
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UAE, Tunisia Sign MoU to Revamp 'Home of Ibn Khaldun'

Initiative to restore the house of the great Arab scholar and philosopher Ibn Khaldun in Tunis. WAM
Initiative to restore the house of the great Arab scholar and philosopher Ibn Khaldun in Tunis. WAM

UAE’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs of Tunisia have concluded an MoU to revamp the ‘Home of Ibn Khaldun’ in the City of Culture, Shazly Kelibi, in Tunis.
Aimed at turning the house into a museum for the renowned scholar Abdurahman ibn Khaldoun, the MoU was signed by Abdurrahman Mohamed Al Owais, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center and Dr. Hayat Qatat Al-Qarmazi, the Minister of Cultural Affairs of Tunisia, in the presence of Dr Yousef Al Obaidli, Director-General of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center in Abu Dhabi, and Dr. Iman Ahmed Al-Salami, UAE Ambassador to Tunisia, along with a number of officials from both countries.

“The initiative to restore the house of the great Arab scholar and philosopher Ibn Khaldun in Tunis, which comes under the noble patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, constitutes one of the initiatives of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center for preserving human heritage at all local, Arab, and international levels," said Al Owais.

“This effort reflects the UAE's commitment to preserving world heritage, in its both tangible and intangible forms, an approach that was initiated by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and maintained by the UAE wise leadership in an example to follow in terms of tolerance, peaceful coexistence, and cultural harmony,” he added.

For her part, Al-Qarmazi hailed the longstanding cultural cooperation between the two countries in the field of culture and heritage.

“This signing is a step in the right direction for advancing the partnership between the two nations in a way that showcases the rich cultural heritage of the Arab and Islamic worlds," she added.



Pharrell Advocates for Reviving Arts Competitions for 2028 Olympics at Louis Vuitton Event 

Pharrell Williams upon arrival at the Louis Vuitton Foundation on the eve of Paris Olympics opening ceremony, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)
Pharrell Williams upon arrival at the Louis Vuitton Foundation on the eve of Paris Olympics opening ceremony, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)
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Pharrell Advocates for Reviving Arts Competitions for 2028 Olympics at Louis Vuitton Event 

Pharrell Williams upon arrival at the Louis Vuitton Foundation on the eve of Paris Olympics opening ceremony, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)
Pharrell Williams upon arrival at the Louis Vuitton Foundation on the eve of Paris Olympics opening ceremony, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP)

If given the chance, Pharrell Williams would reintroduce arts competition into the Olympics, reviving a tradition that's been missing for nearly 80 years.

Williams is aiming to reinstate arts competitions back on the world's biggest sports stage, starting with raising awareness through his star-studded Louis Vuitton event Thursday in Paris. He passionately shared his goal to see the tradition revived by the Olympics in 2028 the night before the Games’ opening ceremony.

“We get to remind people that at one point, the Olympics actually had the arts as a section that ran all these competitions,” Williams before the event. “Sculpture, architecture, visual arts. The idea we get to put the arts back in. ... Why not take this moment to bring awareness?”

Art competitions first came into fruition at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm with medals awarded in five categories: architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. However, the International Olympic Committee ended the competitions in the 1948 games. An attempt to bring it back was denied four years later.

Williams, the musician-turned-designer, hosted the ritzy A-list event at the Louis Vuitton Foundation building. Attendees included popular figures such as LeBron James, Steven Spielberg, Mick Jagger, Zendaya, Anna Wintour, Charlize Theron, Serena Williams, Rosalía, Snoop Dogg, Queen Latifah and Zac Efron.

Williams called the inside of the event like an “indoor carnival.” He curated a select group of world-renowned artists including KAWS, Daniel Arsham and Derek Fordjour to design interactive art installations.

Some of the sports represented at the event included archery, tennis, basketball and equestrianism along with carnival games. “The game will begin on the inside tonight,” he said.

Through donations, Williams said he wanted the event to support Olympic hopefuls as well as 36 athletes across 11 different countries who are competing on the Refugee Olympic Team this year.

“We get to raise money for the other athletes who don't have the means to get the gear or proper training equipment,” said Williams, who added that he spoke about creating music for the games with Thomas Bach, the president of the IOC.

The famed producer said he recorded a track called “Triumph is Cosmos.”

“This is like the victory lap around the solar system,” he said.