Berlin, October 22 (QNA) – First Secretary and Cultural Affairs Officer at the Embassy of the State of Qatar to the Federal Republic of Germany Asma bint Mohammed Al Bakr emphasized that the activities organized by the “Arab Cultural House – Al Diwan” in Berlin contribute to strengthening the rapprochement between the Arab world and Germany.

In special remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA), she indicated that these efforts come within a strategy aimed at building bridges of communication and sustainable dialogue between cultures, and providing platforms that enhance mutual understanding.

The Cultural Affairs Officer at the Embassy of the State of Qatar to Germany said that the activities of Al Diwan are based on four main axes, including arts, culture, academic studies, and research. She noted that it seeks through them to spread cultural and human values and enhance mutual understanding between peoples in the East and the West.

She added that the Arab Cultural House – Al Diwan organizes 16 cultural programs, including the Al Diwan council program, which is one of the current key projects, in addition to holding seminars and dialogue meetings that bring together key figures from the Arab and German sides, in addition to the Al Diwan film festival and the translation project with the University of Bonn, which aims to enhance knowledge exchange with 75 researchers from Qatar and Germany have participated in it so far.

Among these programs is also the Diwan center, a research center under the umbrella of the Arab Cultural House, which is based on main pillars, the most important of which is the “black cafe,” which aims to hold closed discussion sessions with political, economic, and security decision-makers in Germany. It has witnessed the organization of more than 30 events, in addition to open discussion sessions, and more than 11 discussion sessions so far.

The center also includes the German-Arab media dialogue, which aims to change stereotypes about German media coverage of the Arab world, and to support research and studies that come in cooperation with a group of German researchers and academics. In this regard, more than three peer-reviewed academic studies have been issued.

peaking about the most prominent annual events, Asma bint Mohammed Al Bakr indicated that Al Diwan organizes a series of central activities that have become prominent cultural stations in the German scene. These events include the “Al Diwan Arabic Book Fair,” two editions of which were held and witnessed a remarkable presence and interest from official German authorities.

65 publishing houses attended the first edition, while the second edition was attended by 90 publishing houses and research centers, with an attendance of more than 6,000 people.

The Cultural Affairs Officer at the Embassy of the State of Qatar to Germany added that Al Diwan organizes the Al Diwan Music Festival, which brings together musical groups from the Arab world and Germany and aims to highlight cultural diversity by blending traditional and modern music.

Al Bakr also addressed the role of Al Diwan academy in promoting cultural communication, saying that so far, more than 150 participants have been trained on Arabic musical instruments, with concerts organized in cooperation with local and international bands.

She stressed that these annual activities carried out by Al Diwan also include international conferences and workshops in the fields of arts and sciences, in addition to Arab cultural days in cooperation with Arab embassies in Germany. She added that through these events, Al Diwan seeks to provide permanent platforms for dialogue and exchange of ideas, which enhances cultural rapprochement and opens new horizons for cooperation between Qatar and Germany.

She noted that Al Diwan seeks to strengthen its relations with international cultural and academic institutions through a series of agreements. She pointed out that there is an ongoing cooperation agreement with Humboldt University in Berlin aimed at developing Arabic language teaching curricula, in addition to workshops for German students in the field of Arab culture. A project is also being implemented in cooperation with Qatar University Publishing House to translate books published by the university into German.

She indicated that an agreement was signed with the German Institute for Oriental Research to present an annual prize for the best book dealing with the Arab world, in Arabic, German, or English. The agreement also includes holding joint training programs to enhance the skills of young researchers.

The Cultural Affairs Officer at the Embassy of the State of Qatar to Germany also announced a project under implementation to establish a legal entity concerned with combating piracy of Arabic books in Germany, in cooperation with the Arab Publishers Association and the International Publishers Association.

In this context, she said that the project aims to protect the rights of Arab authors and publishers and to ensure that Arab books reach the European public in a legal and organized manner.

She added that the center is in the process of building a specialized library for Arabic books, as well as manuscripts and references related to the Arabian Gulf region in Al Diwan, in cooperation with the Qatar University Library, which aims to collect 20,000 references in Al Diwan library.

First Secretary and Cultural Affairs Officer at the Embassy of the State of Qatar to the Federal Republic of Germany Asma bint Mohammed Al Bakr concluded her remarks to QNA by stressing the importance of continuing these initiatives to enhance cultural relations between Qatar and Germany, and that these agreements and projects are the cornerstone of strong and sustainable relations that enhance the values of understanding and peace between cultures.

(QNA)