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Sultan releases his book on cultural development

SHARJAH - His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, released his book titled Harvest of Years on Wednesday during the opening ceremony of the 30th Edition of Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) at the Expo Centre, Sharjah.

The book written in Arabic is an account of the cultural march of the emirate during last 30 years and narrates the cultural work and effort that grew slowly as a result of a strategic vision that made Sharjah a cultural hub.

Way back, when the Sharjah Department of Culture and Information was set up in 1982, the Ruler had said: “Enough of the concrete revolution, let us build culture.”

Rolling out an ambitious strategy of development that covered building of a strong infrastructure, the emirate began its powerful march of cultural development in the following years. Within two decades, the emirate was voted the Cultural Capital of the Arab World by UNESCO. The new book authored by Sultan chronicles the important milestones the cultural march passed by during the last three decades.

The pages of the book trace the cultural movement in Sharjah and monitors the cultural diversity in all areas through annual cultural events such as SIBF for thirty years, starting from the year 1982.

The preface of the book reveals intention and desire of the Ruler to integrate plan for cultural development in the emirate. “At the beginning of 1979, I was thinking seriously to develop a plan in order to encourage youth to pay attention to the areas of culture. I determined to give more importance and care initially to culture and arts. I told the youth who were present at the show of the play “Wonders of the Company”, which was staged in the Africa Hall of Sharjah, on April, 1979, that they will soon witness great cultural surprises in the coming years and that its time to start a cultural revolution,” he writes in the preface.

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