UAE students to get chance to meet Nobel laureates in literature

Dubai - Exhibition is taking place at La Mer in Dubai from February 3 to March 2.

A handful of university students from the UAE will get the chance to meet laureates of the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature.
During the inauguration of the fifth Nobel Exhibition on Sunday, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) in collaboration with the Nobel Foundation, said that for the second year in a row, selected students will be nominated to travel abroad and learn from the laureates.
Being held under the slogan 'The Nobel Prize in Literature - Sharing Worlds', the exhibition is taking place at La Mer in Dubai from February 3 to March 2.
Jamal bin Huwaireb, CEO of the MBRF, encouraged students to grab the opportunity. "We will send letters to the universities first and it will be up to the faculty to nominate students. Following that, a committee from the Nobel Foundation will select the students."
Although no criteria is set in choosing students for the laureate meet, Dr Olov Amelin, vice-president of the exhibitions at the Nobel Prize Museum, Sweden, said they will make sure it is a "50/50 selection process of both men and women".
"We are open to receiving all kinds of students, as long as they have been studying for quite some time. There is no set criteria for nomination because we have learnt from laureates that, actually, some are school and college drop-outs. It took them time to discover their talent, so we don't believe in selecting too hard, hence it is open to a large majority of candidates."
In 2018, four students were selected for travel. This year, the number has not been decided yet. Nobel Exhibition 2019 seeks to promote the production and transfer of knowledge, shedding light on the contributions and innovations of the people who were awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize in Literature.
The 2019 exhibition has eight sections - peace, human condition, fairy tales, life, tolerance, family, love and the city.
Each section focuses on a specific topic that introduces visitors to selected novels written by the Nobel laureates. And each novel is accompanied by a piece of model art that depicts a scene from the book in focus. "We selected a group of four artists and asked if they would be willing to provide artworks for each book title. By introducing that element, it's a brilliant way of making the exhibit three-dimensional and interactive," Huwaireb said.
A selection of 114 Nobel laureates are highlighted throughout the exhibition; winners from 1901 up to 2018, including the 1988 winner, Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz. He is also the only Arab finalist to receive the title for works in literature.
Amelin said: "Literature makes us understand humans in a better way. It opens our eyes to seeing things differently and prepares us to make better decisions."
kelly@khaleejtimes.com