Sharjah looks to strengthen ties with Czech writers
Sharjah Institute for Heritage invites Czech Pen Club to heritage celebrations in emirate
Sharjah Institute for Heritage (SIH) chairman Dr Abdul Aziz Al Musallam and colleagues have been on a visit to the Czech Republic from July 15 at the invitation of the Czech Pen Club which represents Czech Writers Association.
The Sharjah group met with Czech poet and musician Jiri Dedecek, chairman of Czech Pen Club, and discussed the possibility of hosting the Czech Republic as a guest at the next edition of Sharjah Heritage Days. Al Musallam said the visit was a good opportunity to share Sharjah’s cultural values and heritage.
“We are eager to communicate and interact with various international heritage institutions,” he said.
“The visit serves as an opportunity for us to promote Sharjah and its heritage and cultural projects to showcase the UAE and Sharjah’s model in heritage conservation and protection for future generations.
“We invited the Czech Pen Club to represent the Czech Republic in the World Heritage Weeks in 2018.
“We discussed with the Czech delegation how to collaborate in translating heritage and traditional books which strengthen communication between the two friendly countries,” he said.
Czech books
The Sharjah group also visited the Heritage Institute in Prague and was briefed by the director about his role of highlighting Czech heritage, publishing the literary work of Czech authors and organising the annual best book competition in collaboration with the Czech Ministry of Culture.
Al Musallam told the director that the Sharjah heritage organisation would be willing to translate some heritage books from Czech into Arabic and vice versa.
Last April, the Sharjah Institute for Heritage received a delegation from Czech Pen Club and they were acquainted with the SIH’s premises, activities and its publications.
The Czech delegation also visited the Sharjah Heritage Days, an annual cultural extravaganza that was launched 15 years ago to strengthen heritage and cultural dialogues between Sharjah and a number of major capitals of the world.