Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji, left, with Ibrahim Al Hashemi at the signing, June 2, of the new memorandum of understanding between the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center (Al Tunaiji) and the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation. Image: ADALC
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘A Great Incentive for Us to Collaborate’
On the heels of its Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center under the supervision of Dr. Ali Bin Tamim has entered a cooperative agreement with the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation “to strengthen collaboration in scientific and intellectual fields by exchanging knowledge and developing solutions to the challenges and issues in contemporary Arab research and academia.”
Signing the memorandum of understanding Friday (June 2) were the Arabic Language Center’s executive director Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji and his counterpart at the Al Owais foundation, Ibrahim Al Hashemi.
The agreement, in media messaging from Abu Dhabi, “facilitates cooperation between the two entities in the implementation of strategic joint projects and the organization of events which enrich and address issues in intellectual, scientific, and cultural fields.”
Saeed Hamdan Al Tunaiji
In a prepared statement, Al Tunaiji is quoted, saying, “The ALC is committed to developing new programs and initiatives and building a network of strategic partnerships, in order to strengthen cooperation and rally efforts to address the challenges facing the Arabic language.
“We’re constantly working to devise the best solutions to enable the Arabic language to take the lead in cultural, intellectual, and creative fields, and our partnership with the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation provides new directions through which we can support Arab knowledge and intellectual production, laying the foundations to motivate Arab creators and thinkers across all fields.”
And Al Hashemi says, “We’re proud of the role that national cultural institutions play in asserting the UAE’s cultural presence both domestically and abroad, reflecting a positive image of a cultural life that is open to a diverse, tolerant, and civilized world.
“It’s our mission to deepen thought and advance the vocabulary, aesthetics, and originality of culture.
“We’ve made a commitment at the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation to align ourselves with cultural institutions that share our interests, so that we can unite our vision and share directives.
“This is a great incentive for us to collaborate with the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center to promote cultural values through joint activities and mutual events, which will reflect positively on the cultural outputs and all related knowledge matters.”
The terms of the agreement, as understood by Publishing Perspectives, features a pledge to coordinate the two agencies’ efforts across events and activities that focus on Arab world culture, and—even more crucially—to exchange their databases of Arab and international cultural leadership figures.
The Al Owais Foundation and Arabic Language Center are to create a “joint action plan” that will govern and generate “a dedicated program of workshops, seminars, and advisory services” as well as joint research studies and reports.
At the June 2 signing of the new memorandum of understanding between the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center and the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation. Image: ADALC
More from Publishing Perspectives on the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center is here, more on Arabic literature is here, and more on translation is here. More from us on the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the world media partner of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.