Muscat – Hajjaj Salama

The 28th edition of the Muscat International Book Fair witnessed a notable Saudi participation, where the fair audience flocked to Saudi books in the Kingdom's pavilions, which raised the slogan of the Founding Day and organized activities defining that day and the Kingdom's history, landmarks, and heritage. Saudi participation varied between universities, vernment centers, and private publishing houses. The fair also featured Saudi researchers and writers in various activities, including a dialogue session titled "The Language of Architectural Art" featuring Sumaya Dabbagh, a seminar on "Creative Writing between Language and Craft" with Taher Al-Zahrani, and Hamed bin Aqil speaking at a session titled "Reading in Modern Omani Literature."

A special discussion session was held on "Signatures of Calligraphers and Engravers on their Calligraphy Works in the Makkah Region," featuring Dr. Ahmed Omar Al-Zailai and moderated by Dr. Ali Al-Riyami. The Omani press focused on Dr. Al-Zailai's talk about Makkah and its mastery of many Islamic arts throughout history, including decorative inscriptions on heritage buildings and historical monuments. He emphasized that these inscriptions formed a scientific material through which light was shed on Makkah society. By studying these inscriptions, it was possible to identify the social conditions of many figures, their titles, their origins, their professions, and the positions they held. What distinguishes Makkan engravers and calligraphers is that they signed their names on their works, which is rare in many other Islamic countries. The Muscat International Book Fair, held from February 21 to March 2, included 847 publishing houses from 34 countries displaying 622 thousand titles.