The ambassador of Qatar to Germany, H E Sheikh Saod bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, with other officials at the 69th edition of Frankfurt Book Fair.
Frankfurt: The Ministry of Culture and Sports in Qatar participated in the 69th edition of Frankfurt Book Fair, which was inaugurated last Wednesday by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French President Emmanuel Macron.
Qatar’s contribution was remarkable and fell within the year of culture between Qatar and Germany. The Ministry of Culture and Sports had a ward among 7,300 other exhibitors from more than 100 countries. The fair aimed at turning into digital books.
In the opening speech, the Director of the fair, Euorgen Bose, said, “Publishers play a key role in the thriving fake news world, we as liberal and democratic publishers have to face such a trend with decent publications to offset hatred and fear that are filling the world today.”
Qatar Ambassador visits
The ambassador of Qatar to Germany, H E Sheikh Saod bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, paid a visit to the exhibition and had a chance to see the Qatari contributions.
There were a number participations that his Excellency inspected, such as the live calligraphy shows offered to the visitors of the fair on Saturday and Sunday.
Other wards of the fair were open to specialised people only in the first three days. The Turkish ward in the exhibition donated a number of Turkish-Germa publications to the Qatari ward. Key exhibition directors of London and New York have also stopped by the Qatari ward. Several Qatari publishers and bodies took part in the exhibition, such as Qatar Museums, Al Jazeera Center for Studies, Mohammed bin Hamad Center for Muslim contributions in civilizations, Hasan bin Mohammed Center for Historical Studies, some representatives from Katara international award, and the Arab Center for Research and Studies.
Qatari Story Collection launched
The second day of the fair witnessed the launch of the German version of the Qatari story collection “Qetaf”, rendered into German by Evlan Ighbareyh. The collection was previously translated into English and Turkish. The book included chapters for the most renowned story tellers in Qatar. The idea of translating this collection crystalized after having it translated into English and Turkish in 2015, then was prepared to be launched in the 69th edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair, marking the German-Qatari cultural year.
Mohammed Hasan Al Kuwari, one of Qetaf’s authors added, “Qetaf was selected to be translated into German because short stories have become one of the most preferred genres of contemporary arts”. He pointed that Qetaf was on huge demand by the fair guests, and it’s success in Qatar could be attributed to the fact that some of its chapters were published in Doha Monthly Magazine.
Seminar on cultural dialogue today
The Frankfurt Book Fair offers today a seminar on the cultural dialogue between East and West entitled “The Eastern and Western Cultures: Link and Interaction”. The seminar was inspired by the German poet, J W Gotteh and The Occidental East, for Bridget Bell. The seminar will be attended by a group of researcher from Qatar as well as many others exhibitors from the book fair in a bid to extend cultural bridges between the German culture and its counter parts from all over the world.
