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The Mecca of Arab culture is shifting south
"Not too long ago, the greatest Arab thinkers and artists came from and resided in the Levant and North Africa. To Arabs today some names are instantly recognisable, such as Gibran Khalil Gibran, May Ziadé, Taha Hussein, Amin al Rihani, Mohammed Mahdi al Jawahri, Nizar Qabbani, Rose al Youssef, et al.
"These were the shining lights of Arab intellectualism. They inspired music and movies, books and broadsheets, poems and paintings, and countless sleepless nights of passion. Today, the Arab world is witnessing a migration of Arab creative minds from these very countries to the relative calm and tranquillity of the Arabian peninsula. The warm Gulf waters and the peaceful desert nations are now attracting more than just tourists and American troops.
"The Mediterranean Arabs are assisting their brethren in the Gulf in forging their very own renaissance. Most Egyptian and Syrian television series are financed by Gulf money, and many of them are now filmed here. Following in the footsteps of the all-national Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra that started in 1985, Doha introduced its 80-member strong Qatar Symphony Orchestra to the world, and although it is being led by the Iraqi Dr Salem Abdul Kareem, [...]
"This year alone witnesses the opening of two Islamic museums, one in Doha and the other in Sharjah. Incidentally, it was the relatively poor emirate of Sharjah that Unesco chose to honour as the very first Arab Cultural Capital in 1998, before Cairo, Beirut or Damascus, the traditional citadels of Arab intellectualism.
"Dubai, the city of merchants, has launched several cultural initiatives including the redevelopment of its historic old Creek, with the promise of an opera house, the Prophet Mohammed Museum [...]
"Abu Dhabi, by far the most ambitious of all the Gulf states, has already hosted such world class exhibitions as the priceless David Khalili collection of Islamic art as well as a Pablo Picasso exhibition that would feel as at home in the Tate Modern as it does in Gallery One of the Emirates Palace. These are small steps that will lead to realising the grand vision of hosting a Louvre, a Guggenheim and several other museums and cultural centres on Saadiyat Island.
"The Gulf cultural festivals are slowly becoming fixtures in international events calendars; both Dubai and Abu Dhabi host world class film and jazz festivals, for example. Doha and Bahrain host world class cultural celebrations. Even Kuwait, which has as yet neglected to restore the National Museum that was looted during the 1990 invasion, boasts a Museum of Modern Art as well as several private collections that are open to the public.
"The mecca of Arab culture is indeed slowly shifting south-east away from the Mediterranean basin. [...]"
Source: The National (UAE), July 1, 2008
Posted at: 2008-07-01
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