Hajjaj Salama

Kuwait is witnessing from February 11 to 22 the activities of the 29th edition of the Al-Qurain Cultural Festival, held under the patronage of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah. The General Secretariat of the Kuwaiti National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters announced the launch date of the festival at the Sheikh Jaber Cultural Center, featuring the opening ceremony and the honoring of pioneers and winners of state appreciation and encouragement awards. Aisha Al-Mahmoud, Assistant Secretary-General for the Culture Sector, stated: "The current edition will have a special character as it coincides with the lden Jubilee and the 50th anniversary of the National Council. Contrary to the custom of celebrating an Arab figure, this year a pioneer of culture in Kuwait and one of the Council's founders, the great poet Dr. Khalifa Al-Waqyan, was chosen as the festival's personality. For the first time, the festival carries a name; in appreciation of his career, the name of the late great poet Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain was given to this edition."

Various Activities

Regarding the most prominent activities, Al-Mahmoud said: "The festival includes about 30 activities covering most branches of culture and arts, varying between intellectual seminars, lectures, poetry and music evenings, visual art exhibitions, cinema, book and heritage fairs, and reading workshops." The intellectual seminar will be titled "Literary Editing and Publishing in the Arab World." The festival also features the "50 Years Celebration" interactive exhibition. Al-Mahmoud also revealed the launch of the "Third Art - Mural Art" project aimed at decorating public streets and transformer boxes with beautiful drawings to add a civilized atmosphere. Palestine will be present through a lecture on "Resistance Literature" by writer Adania Shibli. The arts will be present starting from the opening, through the "Kuwaiti Song Night" on February 13, a Spanish piano concert by Eduardo Fernandez on February 20, and an evening by artist Magdy Talaat, concluding with the honoring of lyricist Sami Al-Ali. The Council is also studying a project to "unify the visual identity" of the National Council in coordination with Kuwait University.