RIYADH, 1 March 2007 — Minister of Culture and Information Iyad Madani inaugurated the Riyadh International Book Fair 2007 Tuesday evening. The 10-day event features over 200,000 books and hundreds of publishing houses from the Arab world.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by Prince Turki ibn Sultan, assistant minister of information, OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, representatives of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and many foreign dignitaries.
“The organization of this event is just an example of cultural development the Kingdom has witnessed,” said Madani. “In the past, the Saudi book was received with amazement due to its limited circulation,” he said.
For the first time the event is being organized by the Culture and Information Ministry, not the Ministry of Education, but Madani said what matters is not who sponsors the event but having an event like this in Saudi Arabia. “It is a cultural issue where all related government bodies play vital roles,” he said.
UNESCO’s Nasif Hatee underlined the importance books play in bolstering cultural exchange. “Books represent a major role in boosting dialogue between nations and in human development in several areas,” he said. “We are looking forward to the construction of knowledgeable societies in the Arab world.”
Shoura Council member Muhammad Al-Zulfa described the event as “a national treasure.” “This is a national day in which we salute our poets, our authors and our thinkers,” he said, adding that the event plays an important role in Arab and Islamic culture, not just Saudi Arabia.
“Here in Riyadh we are proving to the world that we are a nation that embraces culture, civilization and productivity despite a small minority among us trying to cocoon us in a small environment isolated from world culture,” he said.
He said by sponsoring such an international book exhibition, Saudis joined hands in combating the ideology of an extreme minority in the Kingdom who refuses to open up to the world.
He also said the huge crowd that flocked to attend the grand opening on Tuesday was a sign of educational maturity among Saudis. He lauded the efforts of the ministry to organize several cultural symposiums on the sidelines of the exhibition. “It is a chance for Saudi men and women to attend and be enlightened to be part of a better world,” he said.
After participating in a cultural symposium last year, extremists cornered Al-Zulfa for trying to raise the issue of women driving for discussion in the Shoura Council.
The minister presented awards to some eminent Saudi poets and intellectuals including Ibrahim Al-Damegh, Hassan Al-Sairafi, Saleh Al-Othaimeen, Abdulghani Qusti, Abdullah Al-Faisal, Ghazi Al-Gosaibi and Fawziya Abu Khaled.
The audience later watched a documentary about the history of calligraphy.
