Isesco confab opens in Riyadh
Services lauded ‘Baku culture level top in Asian region’
RIYADH, Dec 1, (KUNA): Under auspices of Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) opened here on Saturday the 11th session of its general conference in the presence of UNESCO DirectorGeneral Irina Bokova.
Addressing the opening meeting, Saudi Minister of Higher Education Dr. Khalid Bin Mohammad Al-Anqari, the chair of the current session of the conference, said the ISESCO made praiseworthy efforts over the last three decades in serving the issues of the Muslim nation.
“Since it was launched in 1982, the organization helped manipulating the human resources and turning knowledge into economy through facilitating experience sharing among the Muslim countries,” Al-Anqari pointed out.
The Saudi minister reaffirmed his country’s support to ISESCO’s efforts in investing in human development and promoting cooperation among the Muslim countries in all fields.
Meanwhile, Tunisian Minister of Education Abdullatif Obaid, the chair of the conference numerated his country’s contributions to the ISESCO march during its presidency of the last session of the conference.
On his part, ISESCO Director-General Dr Abdulaziz Othman Al-Twaijri said the organization is working on 15 strategies in various domains.
“We work with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for holding four Islamic ministerial meetings on higher education and scientific research, culture, environment, and childhood and women,” he said. BAKU, Dec 1, (KUNA): Kuwaiti officials from the visual art movement praised the cultural level in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, after reviewing its cultural arena extensively as one of the Kuwaiti cultural delegation’s activities in the country.
“I do not think that Azerbaijan’s outstanding cultural development through the past few years have had happened anywhere else in Asia,” Kuwaiti artist and writer, Thuraya Al-Baqsami told KUNA, noting that if oil was combined with good planning by focusing on developing the humanitarian side, “the community can achieve miracles.” The proliferation of various cultural institutions and enterprises such as the theaters, museums and musical centers is a proof of the government’s seriousness to support the cultural activities, especially that Baku is on its way to become a cultural hub for Asia through music festivals, films, theater and art exhibitions, which are now becoming a lifestyle, she added.
She stressed the importance of the Kuwaiti cultural delegation that consists of several professionals in the fields of cinema, theater, visual art, literature as well as administrative cadres, who gained during the cultural events several experiences, and will return to Kuwait with new ideas as a way to extend a bridge between the two countries.
In addition, Al-Baqsami praised Baku’s Museum of Modern Art that the delegation recently visited, which is a private institution backed by the government with “stunning” art works, indicating that it is a symbol depicting the private sector’s support of the cultural movement as “Azerbaijanis are becoming to bet on the horse of culture to prove themselves in the Asian continent.” She expressed admiration of Azerbaijani artists whose talents are “more than excellent,” wishing to activate a bicultural exchange between artists in Kuwait and Azerbaijan to showcase their works, which will reflect a positive impact on both sides.
Al-Baqsami considered literary translation between the two countries a great honor for any artist or writer whose work is interpreted into other languages, noting that “there is great enthusiasm for culture and artistic exchange marked by Azerbaijani officials, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Union of Azerbaijani Writers.