RIYADH: Argentine Cultural Secretary Jorge Coscia and Culture and Information Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja will jointly inaugurate Saudi cultural days in Argentina today in Buenos Aires, Argentine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Enrique Pareja announced on Thursday.
“My country has welcomed this important initiative to organize these days by the Ministry of Culture and Information in Saudi Arabia once it was suggested by the Saudi ambassador to Argentina Isam Al-Thaqafi, because we thought it would establish a real bridge between our two countries despite the geographical distance,” Pareja said. “The event is an excellent opportunity to bring our two nations closer, especially that Argentina, with its plural and faith tolerant society, accommodates around three million citizens of Arab descent and around one million Muslims of different origins, including native Argentineans and Arabs who all consider Saudi Arabia part of their historical and spiritual heritage.”
Saudi Deputy Minister for International Cultural Affairs Abu Baker Baqadir and Al-Thaqafi will be attending the opening ceremony along with a large audience of dignitaries, ordinary citizens and members of Muslim community, the ambassador added.
The event will last five days, three of which will be in Buenos Aires, while the remaining two days will be in Montevideo, the capital city of neighboring Uruguay. The Saudi delegation composed of more than a hundred of men of letters, lecturers, poets and cultural performers will participate in variety of activities, including lecturing, conducting seminars, displaying painted works, calligraphy and sculpture, modeling folkloric customs, and performing traditional dances during the event.
A major activity at the event will be the exhibition of the Two Holy Mosques organized at the Islamic Center of Buenos Aires.
The exhibition will feature models and pictures of the construction and development works at the Two Holy Mosques and lands in both Makkah, Madinah, during the past few decades.
The center, the largest of its kind in South America, was built with almost total Saudi finance before more than a decade ago. The exhibition is expected to attract a large number of visitors from both the Muslim community members and lovers of Islamic architecture among the Argentinean people.
