The cultural atmosphere is a very important reflection of all the developments that take place in the society. The educated person is always surrounded by the concerns of the society in which he lives. He is also expressing his hopes and ambitions, whether through creative writing that carries the juice of his thoughts and experiences or through the cultural activities he engages in. Presented by a panel discussion entitled "Independent Cultural Salons: Stop or Continue" organized by the Dubai Culture and Science Symposium.
120 minutes The cultural salons of the independent groups, which influenced the cultural scene, were developed and developed by focusing on four groups: The Salon of the Forum, the Asmaa Al Mutawa Foundation, the Mosaic Project, the Traveling Literary Salon, «Women's Rest».
The session was attended by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Culture and Science Symposium, Bilal Al-Badour, and a number of UAE intellectuals, including Abdul Ghaffar Hussain, Ali Obaid Al Hamli, Aisha Sultan and Jamal Al Khayat. Abdul Razzaq Al-Faris Abdul Khaliq Abdullah.
The workshop was moderated by Sala Obeid, who stressed that the purpose of the session is not just dialogue, but an interactive workshop on the affairs of independent culture, its concerns, nature and how to achieve its optimal form.
Challenges and difficulties
"The idea of the forum came 20 years ago through a group of women of 24 women who meet around a book, and because the novel is the daughter of its environment, the novel was the starting point for the salon's readings and dialogues," said Asma al-Mutawa, Impressionism, and with time approached the space between the writer and reader and breaking the barrier, and the presence of the writer within the salon is part of the intimacy of reading ».
Mutawa noted that "the beginnings were not easy, because of the difficulty of the presence of women in cultural clubs, in addition to the decline of the Arabic language, which made the activity limited to the first meeting of women of all nationalities and identities to read.
"The Forum is the first literary salon to participate in a book fair, and has succeeded in hosting more than 600 writers and writers during his cultural career."
Obstacles and concerns
The representative of the Mosaic Cultural Project, Ghaith Al Hosani, said that «the material obstacles in funding are among the most important challenges that prevent any cultural salon from achieving further cultural leapfrogging. The aim of establishing its independent cultural hall was to reach universality, especially that the UAE citizen is no longer confined to Borders ».
"The first step was the Russian Literary Salon in 2014, where Russian literature was the spring that established the novel in the world, and then the project was accepted locally, Gulf and Arab, and the demand for the idea of the project was great either directly or through the means of communication and even with our desire In expansion, we kept the idea of specialization in Russian literature. "
"In 2015, a new reading salon was opened, called the Friends of Noble Club. The project had its presence and influence in social media. The Salon members had a real desire to extend this influence to the ground by interacting with the local cultural aspect in partnership In book fairs and cultural seminars. "
"The initiatives of the group have culminated in the multi-faceted Mosaic project to receive all cultural views and initiatives, to participate in art, cinema and criticism, to host writers and artists, and to make contests for the book industry. The commitment was the key to enriching Mosaic, but new blood is needed."
Umbrella responsible
"The cultural salons need an umbrella that is responsible for the work and activities of the cultural salons in the country as a whole, which provides support, support and advice," said Amna Barot, a representative of the traveling literary salon.
She explained that «the idea of the salon came from her desire and her brother Abdulaziz Barrot, to work a free salon walking in the Emirates of the state, and discusses the various cultural literary works, but with time began to shrink events and personalities, but we do not forget the existence of people from multiple generations, young people, founders and first generation, They had a prominent presence in most of the discussion sessions, but the working conditions and moving from place to place prevented the continuation of the salon ».
"The idea of the literary saloon is different from what is known about the fixed literary salons of time and space, which is aimed at a particular class or class. Therefore, the traveling saloon tried to break the rule, while adhering to the permanence of time, the last Friday of each month, Or hosting a writer or a poet, and every time you travel in a city of the cities of the state, especially remote areas and remote, but unfortunately stopped after three years ».