On behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan inaugurated on Thursday the Riyadh International Book Fair (RIBF), with the participation of more than one thousand local, regional and international publishing houses from 28 countries.
In its new edition, the RIBF is held under the slogan, “A New Destination, A New Chapter”, and extends from Oct. 1-10 in its new location in Riyadh.
The most prominent cultural event in Saudi Arabia in the field of books and the publishing sector is organized this year by the Saudi Ministry of Culture, with the presence of Iraq as “guest of honor.”
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Iraqi Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Dr. Hassan Nadhem said that his country’s participation as a guest of honor at the Riyadh International Book Fair this year comes in light of the “growing relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and tireless diplomatic work to build real partnerships with the Kingdom at various levels.”
The activities of the cultural program, which is held on the sidelines of the RIBF, will kick off on Friday, in the presence of prominent Saudi, Arab and international writers, thinkers and critics, who will meet in a set of seminars, lectures and workshops to discuss various fields of cultural creativity.
The exhibition celebrates the experiences of pioneers of literature and arts, including Muhammad Mahdi Al-Jawahiri, Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab, Ali Jawad Al-Taher, Wassini Al-Araj and Prince Khalid Al-Faisal.
Prominent participants include Dr. Abdullah Al-Ghadami, American author Jordan Belfort, and his compatriot Chris Gardner.
Poetry evenings will be held by poets from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and musical and artistic gatherings will be attended by Egyptian musician Omar Khairat, Iraqi Naseer Shamma, and Iraqi singer Saadoun Jaber.
The cultural program also celebrates Iraq as guest of honor, through a series of seminars and poetry evenings, in the presence of the Iraqi minister of Culture.
The RIBF cultural program is divided into three main parts: the first is “Book Talk” evenings, in which nine Saudi, Arab and international authors will be hosted to talk about their experiences in writing. Those include: Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Sheikha Hend Al-Qasimi, the Saudi traveler and author Abdullah Al-Jumah, Kuwaiti novelist Meshaal Hamad, Jordanian novelist Ayman Otoom, American author Jordan Belfort, Kuwaiti novelist Saud Alsanousi, American chef and author Marco Pierre White, and American writer Chris Gardner, author of the famous book, “The Pursuit of Happyness.”
In the second part, “Cultural Encounters,” more than 100 intellectuals and critics of different nationalities will talk about urgent literary and cultural subjects through 36 seminars and lectures held over the ten days of the exhibition.
The third part will be devoted to evenings and prizes honoring authors and icons who served Arab culture, including Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, Advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Emir of Makkah Al-Mukarramah Region, who will be honored by the Arab World Institute in Paris in a grand ceremony hosted by the exhibition, in return for his immense contribution to Arab culture.
The exhibition will also host over the next Monday and Tuesday the activities of the Publishers Conference - the first of its kind in the Kingdom - in order to discuss the reality of the publishing industry in the Arab world and the ways to make it more competitive at the international level.
Furthermore, the exhibition will organize more than 60 workshops of various stripes and cultural trends, presented by more than 100 experts and specialists in a variety of fields, including workshops on writing and composition, filmmaking, theater, culinary arts, children’s arts and creativity, heritage fashion, science fiction writing, and many others.
