JEDDAH, 29 November 2005 — The question of why the Saudi cultural scene is so often ignored and neglected rather than nurtured and encouraged is being asked more and more these days. Most recently, Saudis have been discussing the Makkah Book Fair, which opened at Umm Al-Qura University yesterday.
This year, the book fair is taking place as part of the celebrations resulting from the choice of Makkah as the year’s Islamic Cultural City. No one objects to the book fair or the reason for holding it in Makkah. On the other hand, many are annoyed that the usual Jeddah Book Fair, which normally takes place at this time of year, has been unexpectedly canceled.
For the last few years, the Jeddah Book Fair has enjoyed a certain popularity among readers, both in Jeddah and from outside the city. It has gained a reputation as a place where people could find the books that they wanted which was often unavailable in local bookstores.
There was also an annual book fair in Riyadh and they were the only two book fairs in the Kingdom that attracted well-known Arab and international publishers. Saudi writers, especially those who are published outside the Kingdom, awaited these fairs in the past, as they were the only legal way of bringing their works into the Kingdom and becoming available to Saudi readers.
Jeddah’s fair was convenient for all book lovers as it was the only one that allowed men and women to enter at the same time; at the Riyadh fair, on the other hand, there were special times for men and others for women.
According to Dr. Adnan Al-Harithy, the dean of library affairs at Umm Al-Qura, which is organizing the Makkah fair, the cancellation of the fair in Jeddah was meant to put the spot light squarely on Makkah.
Dr. Al-Harithy told Arab News that this year’s Makkah fair was different from those in the past. “It is the second time that the fair is hosting more than 400 publishers from around the world,” he explained. Also, for the first time, women will be allowed to visit the fair with men. The fair, at Umm Al-Qura’s main hall in Al-Abidiya neighborhood, will run until Dec. 7 and is open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
