23 May ISSUE NO.1
23-29.05.2022
SHOW DAILY
Abdullah Al-Ghadami, Cultural Personality of the Year and Sheikh Zayed Book Award Honouree
His Excellency Dr Ali bin Tamim Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre
The 31st edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) has additional significance as it comes at a time the world is faced with unprecedented events and challenges, to stress the importance of reading as means for education and escape. Year after year, the exhibition proves its global position as the centre for culture, knowledge, expertise sharing and discussion of the most pressing issues in the publishing and book industry, while linking different cultures and civilisations. We journey back in time to the golden years of literature as we celebrate the prominent Egyptian writer and one of the most celebrated Arab writers and intellectuals, Dr Taha Hussein, and get the chance to explore his work and genius which continues to exert influence and enrich the Arabic language and literature. Known as the ‘Dean of Arabic Literature’, Taha Hussein is considered one of the great men of letters in the Arab world, an icon of Arab thought and literary achievement, and a strong proponent of opening channels of communication between the Arab and Western cultures to show that Arabs are a civilised thinking nation with great cultural and intellectual contributions to the human civilisation. At the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) we are dedicated, through the Centre’s various specialised programmes, to highlighting Arab literary achievements, Abu Dhabi’s cultural achievements and future promising projects, as well as to creating partnership opportunities with major cultural and intellectual institutions around the world. We aim to introduce the world to Arab writers, thinkers and their achievements, and to give the global audience the opportunity to get acquainted with the latest publications worldwide. The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) has succeeded in establishing book fairs as a fundamental medium for transferring various knowledge from around the world to the Arab reader, and a pivotal platform for exchanging the publishing industry prospects and challenges through shared opinions, effective dialogue and discussions that in turn highlights and stresses the UAE’s vision of tolerance and openness to other cultures and civilisations. The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) was able to create an environment that embraces creators, writers and translators, providing them with a unique creativity inducing literary and cultural platform, especially since writing does not necessarily require a rich cultural background. Among the many prominent guests to partake in the Fair this year is the Syrian poet Adonis. With an array of influential literary works to his name, he enjoys unparalleled fame among his contemporaries worldwide and is considered one of the greatest Arab poets today. A series of exhibitions are on the agenda at the Fair including a work by the Japanese calligrapher Fouad Honda, one of the world’s most celebrated calligraphers, which explores the intersections between Arab and Japanese cultures through Arabic calligraphy. The Fair’s culture programmes will bring together several most prominent personalities, such as Guido Imbens, a 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Economics; Roger Allen, Professor of Arabic Language and Comparative Literature, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania, whose work in translation contributed to introducing the Western reader to modern Arabic literature and the works of great Arab writers such as Naguib Mahfouz, Jabra Ibrahim Jabra, Abdel Rahman Munif, Youssef Idris and others; Muhsin J. al-Musawi, Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York, whose scholarly work vastly contributed to enriching the Arabic library, and Homi K. Bhabha, Professor of the Humanities, former president of Harvard University and the founding director of the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard. We look to making the ADIBF’s 31st edition this year an unprecedented success which adds to and surpasses its previous editions, enhancing Abu Dhabi’s position as a culture hub, a beacon of creativity and a platform for publishers and writers, and emphasising the UAE’s leading role in the global cultural scene.
Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji Acting Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre Director of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair
The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) is an embodiment of our ambition to develop an inspiring and sustainable cultural experience. Throughout its previous editions, ADIBF was able to forge and consolidate partnerships with major intellectual, literary and cultural institutions worldwide. The exhibition has become a major gateway for writers, publishers and thought leader from around the world, and a haven for readers. It offers an expansive forum for all professionals in the field of publishing, digital media and electronic services, writers, and book lovers. ADIBF also offers an important opportunity to introduce global audience to the contemporary Emirati literature through inviting the most prominent Emirati writers, intellectuals and publishing houses. Additionally, the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is a platform which highlights the importance of reading and facilitates open access to books. Due to Abu Dhabi’s growing regional and international cultural role as the leading centre for the publishing industry and international cultural events, ADIBF is proudly hosting several most prominent literary, cultural and intellectual figures of international stature, as well as distinguished researches and authors honoured by the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, and the Kalima project for translation. A cultural renaissance has been sweeping the UAE, with the capital Abu Dhabi witnessing a cultural boom that has attracted a worldwide attention, thanks to its unique and successful cultural projects and events. The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair plays an important part in propagating this strategy becoming one of the most important book fairs in the Middle East. ADIBF 2022 edition brings together over 1,000 publishers from more than 80 countries with 450 activities catering to different interests, and including panel discussions, seminars, literary, cultural and intellectual evenings, in addition to a wide range of educational events, a professional programme for publishers, and children oriented activities, all presented by leading academics and experts. We are confident that this year’s fair will meet all expectations and beyond, appealing to all visitors regardless of their ages and nationalities who will inevitably find among the tens of thousands of the offered book titles, events, sessions and daily shows what meets their needs and satisfies their interests, and thus making their visit to the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair an enjoyable cultural, educational and entertaining experience the memory of which will linger for times to come.
About 31st Edition More than
More than
More than
More than
1000
80
650
850
Publishers
Countries
Activities
guests & speakers
500,000
Taha Hussein
Germany
7 Days
titles
Focus Personality Guest of Honour
23-29 May
Focus Personality
Why Taha Hussein? The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair has chosen the ‘Dean of Arabic Literature’, Dr Taha Hussein, to be the personality of the year for its 31st edition. But why Taha Hussein? Because it is impossible to look into the history of the modern Arab culture, without looking at length at one of its most influential authors and intellectuals of the 20th century. Believing that “Education is like air and water,” Taha Hussein diligently strove to educate his countrymen and was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Prize. A leading figure of the literary renaissance and modernist movement in the Arab world, Taha Hussein attempted to free literary studies from superficiality and conservatism. Hussein died on the 28th of October 1973, leaving a cultural legacy of books and translations for which he devoted almost all his life. His major works include his autobiography “The Days”, “The Future of Culture in Egypt”, “On Pre-Islamic Poetry”, “Our Contemporary Literature” and “The Prophet’s Life”.
Taha Hussein’s career had its stormy moments as result of his progressive and enlightened views and stoic intellectual stance for
what he believed. Today he stands as one of most prominent figures of knowledge,
enlightenment and free thought. As such, choosing Dr Taha Hussein to be the focus
personality of ADIBF 31st edition comes in
response to the pressing need for a growing awareness and enlightenment against ignorance and extremism.
Taha Hussein in Lines • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Born on November 15, 1889 in a village in southern Egypt He lost his sight at the age of 4 due to conjunctivitis He memorised the Qur’an in school and joined Al Azhar in 1902 Received his doctorate thesis on “Abu Al-Ala’s Memory” in 1914 Received his second doctorate on Ibn Khaldun in 1917 from the Sorbonne University In 1926 he wrote his controversial book “On Pre-Islamic Poetry” Became Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Egyptian University in 1928 Appointed Minister of Education in 1950 When serving as minister of education, he made primary and secondary education free for all Won more than 36 Egyptian and international awards Received a large number of honourary doctorates from international universities such as Lyon, Montpellier, Rome, Athens, Madrid and Oxford. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature 14 times between 1949 and 1964 He held the position of Director of the Cultural Administration in the Arab League in 1955 He has more than 50 books on literature, history, philosophy of education and translation His sobriquets include “Dean of Arabic Literature” and “Conqueror of Darkness” Taha Hussein died on October 28, 1973 at the age of 84.
Germany: ADIBF’s Guest of Honour
نشرة المعرض
Germany is the guest of honour country at the 31st edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. Germany’s participation as the guest of honour will shed the light on the country’s rich culture, its prominent thinkers and authors whose works have greatly contributed to enriching the German culture and added to the bulk of the human knowledge heritage. It will also focus on Germany’s cultural and civilisational ties and its contributions to knowledge and cultural exchange for building a better cultural understanding. Germany’s guest of honour participation will offer a rich programme of various cultural activities and events aimed to help the Arab reader delve deeper into the German culture. The activities will extend on a 420 sqm space across 15 cultural and professional sessions with the participation of several distinguished German publishers, intellectuals and authors. There will also be special film screenings from Germany, with English subtitles, at the Black Box Cinema.
Libyan Novelist Mohamed Alnaas Wins the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2022
“Bread on Uncle Milad’s Table” by Mohamed Alnaas has won the 15th edition of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2022 At 31, Alnaas is the second youngest writer to win the International Prize for Arabic Fiction and the first Libyan. In addition to being awarded USD $50,000, funding will be provided for the English translation of “Bread on Uncle Milad’s Table”, and Mohamed Alnaas can expect to see an increase in book sales and international recognition.
The Bookshelf رف الكتب
“Hedonistic Theories” by John Watson “Hedonistic Theories from Aristippus to Spencer” by Professor John Watson is one of the latest books from the Kalima translation project, translated into Arabic by Khaled Al Ghanami, revised by Mohamed Fathi Khader. The book gives a critical account of Hedonistic Theories in their historical succession. Starting with the influence of the Sophists on the Greek thought and on Aristippus himself, the book then moves to Epicurus, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, David Hume, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer.
“Coastal Arabian Gulf Dialects in Arabic Dictionaries between Neglect and Exclusion” The 2nd edition of “Coastal Arabian Gulf Dialects in Arabic Dictionaries between Neglect and Exclusion: the Coastal Dialect in the UAE» by the Emirati writer and researcher Sultan Al Amim, published by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, offers over its 170 pages a comprehensive study of the fading coastal dialects. The book consists of five chapters, «Between the Language and the Sea», «The Impact of Excluding Coastal Arabian Gulf Dialects from Arabic Dictionaries», «The Common Coastal Vocabulary between Arabic Language and Emirati Dialect”, «The Missed Coastal Vocabulary in Lisan Al Arab», and “The Rich Coastal Lexicon of the Emirati Dialect.»
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Abdullah Al-Ghadami, Cultural Personality of the Year and Sheikh Zayed Book Award Honouree The Sheikh Zayed Book Award (SZBA) in its 16th edition has named Dr Abdullah Al-Ghadami as its “Cultural Personality of the Year” in recognition of his notable contributions to cultural movements in the region and the Arab world. The SZBA Scientific Committee chose Dr Al-Ghathami as its honouree for “his efforts in the fields of cultural criticism, women’s studies, poetry and critical thinking,” which since the mid-1980s called forth a major shift in the Arab critical discourse and helped strengthening the foundations of modern Arab literary and cultural criticism, opening new paths to discuss poetic heritage and modern creative Arabic works by reinterpreting them from a critical perspective characterised by depth and modernity. For the other award categories the winners were: Emirati poet and novelist Maisoon Saqr winner of the “Literature” award; Syrian author Maria Daadoush was awarded the “Children’s Literature” award; Dr Mohamed Al-Maztouri from Tunisia won the “Young Author” award; from Egypt Dr Ahmed Aladawi won the “Translation” award, and Moroccan author Mohamed Aldahi won the “Literary and Art Criticism” award. The “Arabic Culture in Other Languages” award went to Dr Mohsin Jassim Al Musawi from Iraq/ USA, while the “Publishing and Technology” award was awarded to the Egyptian Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
Stars of the Fair
Guido Imbens – Economics for an Improved Life The 31st edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair presents one of the most prominent world economists, Guido Imbens, who, with economist Joshua Angrist, was awarded one half of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Economics for his “methodological contributions to the analysis of casual relationships” in labour markets. •
Guido Imbens is a Dutch-American economist (born September 3, 1963 in Geldrop, the Netherlands).
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He received his PhD in 1991 from Brown University, Providence, USA.
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He is an Applied Econometrics Professor and Professor of Economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he does research in econometrics and statistics.
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Member of the Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Statistical Association.
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His research focuses on developing methods for drawing casual inferences in observational studies, using matching instrumental variables, and discontinuity designs.
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According to Peter Frederickson, chair of the Economic Sciences Prize Committee, “[Imbens’] research has substantially improved our ability to answer key causal questions, which has been of great benefit to society.”
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In the award statement, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science said that “[Imbens and Angrist] have provided us with new insights about the labour market and shown what conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn from natural experiments. Their approach has spread to other fields and revolutionised empirical research.”
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Guido Imbens and Joshua Angrist were able to demonstrate how precise conclusions about cause and effect can be drawn from natural experiments.
300 Publishers in the First International Congress of Arabic Publishing and Creative Industries
Organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre, the First International Congress of Arabic Publishing and Creative Industries brings together 300 experts from around the world representing international companies including World Bank, the New York Times, Disney+, and TikTok to discuss means to enhance the growth of Arabic content. The conference, which took place on May 22, 2022 and is part of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, featured keynote speakers, including Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the International Publishers Association (IPA); Nicholas Carr, Pulitzer Prize finalist; Michael Tamblyn, New York Times bestselling author and CEO of “Rakuten Kobo”, and Ann Hiatt, a bestselling author and Silicon Valley veteran. The Congress included 6 expert-led discussion panels with leading publishers, content creators and professionals from the creative industries. These included: “Is Social Media the New Book Market?”, “Education and Publishing in the Virtual World”, and “Adapting Books into Audio, Film, and Games”. Special guest speaker Sheikha Bodour launched the event with a Keynote Speech, during which she said: “In recent years, the Arab publishing sector has seen a series of internal debates that are establishing a new understanding of the pivotal role publishing plays, and can play, not only in supporting cultural development but also in supporting the comprehensive development of the people of this region. In his address, HE Bin Tamim said: “The International Congress of Arabic Publishing and Creative Industries is a new chapter in the vision and legacy of the late Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to consolidate Abu Dhabi’s position as a global cultural hub. We strongly believe in the importance of publishing and creative industries and the role they play in enhancing the presence of our Arabic language, highlighting its aesthetics and defining features, and underlining the impact it has on introducing our culture and identity to the world. The Congress concluded with a special panel discussion on “What Does the Future Hold for Arabic Content on the Internet?”, which looked at how high-quality Arabic content can be sustained in cyberspace.
Our picks
Exhibition Sessions
23
MAY
The full list of sessions and activities is available on ADIBF’s website
Date:
May 23, 2022
Location:
Main Stage
Writers and Scholars Meet at “Taha Hussein: Insight of Mind” Session Time: 7:00PM | Session: Taha Hussein: Insight of Mind The first session of the cultural programme on ADIBF’s focus personality, Dr Taha Hussein, begins on the Fair’s first day. The session “Taha Hussein: Insight of Mind” brings together most prominent academics, writers and scholars.
3 Exceptional Sessions in the Emirates Literature Foundation Programme Time: 10AM – 4PM | Session: Emirates Literature Foundation Programme The Emirates Literature Foundation presents a special programme that includes 3 educational, cultural and professional sessions in English and Arabic for both adult and children audience.
Writer and critic Time: 5PM The session discusses the nature of the relationship between Dr Fatima, the writer and storyteller, and her husband, Dr Ali, the great literary critic. If literature gets its importance from its description of reality and its imagination, criticism provides the balance for evaluating and judging creativity.
Black Box Cinema Umah
Bond
10 min
20 min
UAE/2021
KSA/2019
Documentary
Feature
Time: 10AM
Time: 10AM
Painters Corner Comics for Beginners
The “Comics” workshop is an opportunity to learn the skill of caricature drawing for beginners, ways to draw characters and implement an illustrated story.
Time: 11AM
Art Corner Batman Forever
Discover the process of painting, composition and having fun with comics. Students will have the opportunity to receive step-by-step instruction in painting the face of Batman using acrylic paint on canvas. Each student will leave with their very own Batman masterpiece.
Gold Shaping and Painting The workshop presents simplified steps for sticking silver, gold or pink paper on canvas. Participants are introduced to ways to employ this technique in their paintings.
Time: 10AM
Time: 12PM
Lifestyle Corner Jiu-Jitsu Show
Jiu-Jitsu Heroes Time: 11AM
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