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ALC Announces Members of Higher Committee of Sard Al Thahab Award 2024

The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) logo
The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) logo
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ALC Announces Members of Higher Committee of Sard Al Thahab Award 2024

The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) logo
The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) logo

The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) has announced the new members of the Higher Committee of Sard Al Thahab Award 2024, which brings together writers, thinkers, and experts in various disciplines related to the Award’s categories, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

The new committee will be chaired by Emirati writer and award-winning media personality Ali Obaid Al Hamli. Members include: Professor Mohammad Al Safrani, Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities at Taibah University in Medina, Saudi Arabia; researcher Dr. Asmaa Al-Ahmadi, Associate Professor of Modern Literature and Criticism in the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia; Dr. Said Yaktine, Moroccan researcher in narratology, criticism, and literary theory; and Egyptian writer and novelist Dr. Miral Al-Tahawy, Associate Professor of Modern Arabic Literature and the Head of Classics and Middle Eastern Studies at the School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC) at Arizona State University in the US.

“The Sard Al Thahab award celebrates authentic Arab identity and culture, complementing the range of prestigious literary awards administered by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, in an effort to enhance the language and its vocabulary in the hearts of the younger generations,” said the Committee’s Chairperson, Ali Obaid Al Hamli.

“The award supports the art of storytelling, which is a fundamental pillar of creative work. It highlights values, customs, and traditions, and supports creators in the field of narrative, opening horizons for the discovery of new talents. This is in line with Abu Dhabi’s pioneering cultural vision to provide a nurturing and supportive environment for creators in various literary arts to express their inner capabilities and enrich the cultural landscape with works that enrich the imagination and taste of readers,” he added.

The Award's Higher Committee recently held its first meeting, during which it discussed nomination mechanisms, criteria for selecting winners and the internal processes and function of the Award, WAM said.

Launched in December 2022, Sard Al Thahab is an annual award that supports the popular art of Arabic storytelling across the Arab World. The Award aims to recognize the long-standing tradition of storytelling in Arabic, including the continuous spread of folk tales and legends, which has been an integral part of Arab heritage, culture, and identity.

The Award includes six categories, including the Short Story for Unpublished Stories category, Short Story for Published Stories category, Popular Narratives, and the Narrators category, which celebrates narrators of popular literature and biographies from the UAE and the wider Arab world.

Other categories include the Illustrated Story category and the Emirati Narration category, which honors literary works that strengthen Emirati identity and are inspired by the history, geography and symbols of the UAE, using them as a starting point to build a distinctive work.

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Culture

Tense Talks as UNESCO Mulls Heritage Sites at Risk

Stonehenge has been a bone of contention between the British government and UNESCO - AFP
Stonehenge has been a bone of contention between the British government and UNESCO - AFP
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Tense Talks as UNESCO Mulls Heritage Sites at Risk

Stonehenge has been a bone of contention between the British government and UNESCO - AFP
Stonehenge has been a bone of contention between the British government and UNESCO - AFP

Tensions are simmering ahead of summer talks on which UNESCO World Heritage sites are deemed to be endangered, with countries battling against featuring on the UN cultural body's list.

Terse language can be expected among diplomats at UNESCO's talks starting Sunday in New Delhi as they discuss cases as varied as Britain's prehistoric Stonehenge circle or Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha in Nepal, ahead of a deadline at the end of July, AFP reported.

The battles to come contrast with the usual suspense over which locations may be added to the prestigious World Heritage classification, which can be a lucrative driver of tourism.

UNESCO, the UN body for education, science and culture, insists that being placed on the narrower list of endangered sites is not a black mark.

But many countries affected, especially in the West, see it differently, fighting fierce rearguard actions against their inclusion.

Venice has been on UNESCO's World Heritage List since 1987, but under threat from climate change and over-tourism, it recently imposed a fee on visitors staying only a day at peak times of year after risking addition to the unhappy club in 2023.

And after years facing down UNESCO over its Great Barrier Reef, Australia has pumped billions into improving water quality, cushioning the impacts of climate change on the coral and protecting endangered species.

London, meanwhile, had long pushed for construction of a highway tunnel passing near Stonehenge, which joined the World Heritage list in 1986 as "the most architecturally sophisticated prehistoric stone circle in the world" according to UNESCO.

British courts blocked an initial plan for the tunnel in July 2021 over concerns about the environmental impact on the site dating to between around 3,000 and 2,300 BC.

The 14-year Conservative government nevertheless kept pushing forward with the project, claiming the tunnel would protect Stonehenge by reducing traffic.

The recently elected Labour government of Keir Starmer has "a different line" on the project, said Lazare Eloundou, head of World Heritage at UNESCO -- although he is in the dark about what London will propose in New Delhi.

In Nepal, the Buddha's birthplace of Lumbini -- rediscovered in 1896 after long being lost to the jungle -- is another sore point.

Added to the World Heritage list in 1997, it is now visited by millions of people each year.

"The site is endangered because many of the monuments are not well maintained and are being seriously degraded," Eloundou said.

Also afflicted with "many completely inappropriate projects", the site's "universal value" is at risk, he added.

"All of southeast Asia is watching this with great concern," Eloundou said.

In New Delhi, the World Heritage committee will also consider sites already seen as in danger due to political instability.

There are some sites which could heave themselves off the endangered list.

In Senegal, for example, elephants are returning to the Niokolo Koba national park that had long been deserted by animals -- though other species' reappearance is yet to be spotted.

UNESCO will consider 25 new candidates for inclusion on the World Heritage list, including the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia, sites linked to the life of Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Brazil's Lencois Maranhenses national park, a vast expanse of sand dunes interspersed with deep blue and turquoise lagoons.