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Saudi Poetry Collection about ‘Qibla of the World’

Poetry collection, Mohammed Abes
Poetry collection, Mohammed Abes
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Saudi Poetry Collection about ‘Qibla of the World’

Poetry collection, Mohammed Abes
Poetry collection, Mohammed Abes

Saudi poet and Advisor to the Ministry of Communication and Information, Mohammed Abes, released his new poetry collection “Qibla of the World…Songs of Earth and Human” in collaboration with the Abha Literary Club and Dar al-Intishar Publishing, Lebanon.

The 125-page collection includes patriotic poems dedicated to different regions in the Kingdom and covers several phases of Abes’ journey. Most of these poems weren’t published before, and some were turned into songs.

The collection documents historic sites, mountains, and touristic regions in the different Saudi cities the poet visited and lived in. Mohammed Abes’ previous collections and books include “Fruits of woman, Bread of man”, “More than a Memory”, and “Isolation Texts”.

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Greek Potter Keeps Ancient Ways Alive, Wins UNESCO Recognition

A drone view of ready handmade pieces in Kouvdis’ family pottery workshop in Agios Stefanos village, near Mandamados on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, September 23, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view of ready handmade pieces in Kouvdis’ family pottery workshop in Agios Stefanos village, near Mandamados on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, September 23, 2024. (Reuters)
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Greek Potter Keeps Ancient Ways Alive, Wins UNESCO Recognition

A drone view of ready handmade pieces in Kouvdis’ family pottery workshop in Agios Stefanos village, near Mandamados on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, September 23, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view of ready handmade pieces in Kouvdis’ family pottery workshop in Agios Stefanos village, near Mandamados on the Greek island of Lesbos, Greece, September 23, 2024. (Reuters)

In his seaside workshop on the Greek island of Lesbos, Nikos Kouvdis uses ancient techniques to create pottery pieces that have recently been honored with inclusion in UNESCO's National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Kouvdis, 70, and his family have kept an old technique alive near the once humming pottery hub of Mandamados, just as the slow and careful methods of the past have been largely eclipsed by factory machines.

Their pottery is among the last in the Mediterranean to be produced from clay in local soil, using a traditional kiln with olive pits as fuel, with the pieces painted with natural lime.

"It's an honor for me," Kouvdis said with regard to the UNESCO recognition of his work.

He said a mechanized press can work at 10 times the speed of an individual potter. "There’s no continuity. There’s no space for (our) method to continue."

Still, he continues to produce individual pots on an outcrop of land overlooking the Aegean Sea.

"Above all, it’s a passion - trying to create something that fulfils you," he said.