JEDDAH, 8 November 2006 — Yesterday was the first day for women to enter a new art exhibition at the Jeddah Cultural Club which was kicked off a week ago. The opening ceremony last Tuesday attracted 170 people including the mayor of Jeddah and other dignitaries.
According to Abdulmuhsin Al-Ghatnai, president of the Jeddah Cultural Club, the opening ceremony was a big success with fruitful recommendations. “The attendees were all dedicated toward developing the club’s facilities and discussed ways of enhancing the services the club provides,” Al-Ghatnai told Arab News.
Al-Ghatnai, who organized the meeting, said Jeddah Mayor Adel Fakeih, Director of Education in Makkah Region Abdullah Al-Thagafi, and Deputy President of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mazen Batterjee spoke on the occasion.
All the speakers put forward suggestions to improve the functioning of the club.
Fakeih said the club lacks a proper sense of infrastructure facilities including the way conference rooms and theaters are run and technical equipment distributed. He added that the municipal administration would offer all the help needed in order to stress the importance of literature and arts in Jeddah.
Batterjee spoke about the possible ways in which the JCCI could help the club such as sponsoring and hosting cultural and literary programs the club regularly holds. “Businessmen are always willing to help and support these sorts of programs once they learn about them and understand the benefits that they bring,” he added.
The speakers also said that there was a necessity to see cooperation between the technical sectors and the club in order to improve communication methods. This, they suggested, could be done through the establishment of a website and an electronic mailing system.
They suggested that the private sector needed to involve itself in cultural events by taking care of the distribution of club’s booklets, building more libraries and awarding students for their creative cultural work with an aim of encouraging their peers.
Al-Thagafi said that the education sector could also be involved. He said that teachers, students and everyone involved in the educational sector could contribute.
With regard to the future of the club, the speakers agreed that they need to offer those services that the club at present does not provide, including the formation and establishment of more theaters and museums.
Al-Ghatnai expressed his happiness at the cooperation between various sectors to have a better and active cultural club in the city. He told Arab News that Hassan Al-Sharbatli establishment had donated SR5 million to build a 1,000-seat-capacity hall for cultural activities. The JCCI has already approved the project.
“The club continues to have literary meetings on Tuesdays after Isha prayers and people of all ages are encouraged to participate and enter free of charge,” said Nabil Zari, the club’s public relations manager.
Al-Ghatnai announced that the club would organize a cultural forum and an international book fair next year.
