Katara Holds Symposium On Cultural Diversity And Its Relationship To Dialogue, Development

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula

DOHA: The Cultural Village Foundation, Katara organised a symposium titled“Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development,” on the occasion of the International Day for Cultural Diversity, which falls on May 21 of each year.

Among the speakers include Writer and Journalist Tayseer Abdullah, Novelist and Critic Dr. Ahmed Al Haj, Critic Ahmed Musa Jalajel. It was moderated by the poet Mohammed Al Shahwani, head of the Cultural Literature Department at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Events at Katara, and the symposium was enriched by Hamad Hamdan Al Muhannadi, the expert in cultural heritage, with his interventions on Qatar's accession to the Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in 2009, and the repercussions of this accession in promoting cultural diversity in the State of Qatar, and its manifestations that were evident in Qatar's success in hosting global events such as the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian Cup.

Al Shahwani, provided insights into the deep meaning of cultural diversity, which Qatar has applied practically in deepening this concept in Qatari society, and then establishing institutions concerned with this aspect, such as the Katara Cultural Village, the Doha International Center for Interfaith Dialogue, and others.

For his part, Dr. Ahmed Al Hajj spoke about the role of the novel in human life and the great differences it has created around the world thanks to the spaces it has that can bring people together and create a true dialogue of civilisations based on respect for others.

Dr. Al Hajj spoke at length about the novel and its role in cultural diversity, noting that the novel can have a negative impact if it is used to demolish others or ridicule their beliefs and culture, as happened with some of the novels of the novelist Salman Rushdie, and other novelists whose novels were banned and confiscated. In many countries, to prevent its inappropriate content from being delivered to fragile societies that are not protected by values.

Tayseer Abdullah discussed the role of culture and the arts in creating a common space for coexistence between people of different races and cultural and ideological backgrounds, and in particular music, theatre, performance dance and cinema as tools, some of which have become a global language for communication, and the impact of this in bringing about rapprochement in dialogue and sustainable development. He also addressed culture as a manifestation which is a soft power, which is what Qatar did, as it invested in the events of a global nature that it hosted in presenting a cultural message aimed at reflecting the authentic Arab culture to the world, and on the other hand, it provided the opportunity for others to present their cultures in a way that does not conflict with the values and morals of the conservative Qatari Muslim society.

Ahmed Jalajel touched on the role of social media in cultural and mental rapprochement between peoples, with their great flexibility in communicating ideas and deepening dialogue in order to understand the other. In this regard, he pointed out the need to be aware of the loss of identity if Arab societies are unable to present their culture well. She preferred to assimilate into other cultures, citing a quote by Amin Maalouf:“Identity is not an impenetrable fortress.”

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