Cultural richness .. Asian countries review the diversity of experiences in Doha

Said Dahri-Doha

The Qatar National Museum in Doha on Monday hosted a two-day regional conference on cultural diversity organized by the Ministry of Culture and Sports in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Asian Cooperation Dialogue under the slogan "Culture Bridges of Dialogue and Understanding" with the aim of creating an Asian community capable of interacting and contributing positively. In establishing peace and stability.

The Conference on Cultural Diversity held sessions that discussed cultural diversity and its impact on Asian societies and reviewed the experiences of some Asian countries in their approach to cultural diversity.

In this regard, the Ambassador of Japan to Doha Seichi Otsuka talked about his country's experience in the field of cultural diversity, through four celebratory manifestations of puberty, marriage, burial and honor ancestors, stressing that these rituals are inspired by the diverse ethnic and cultural heritage that Japan has known since ancient times, and that these rituals It varies depending on the specificity of each region, the nature of the person and their social status.

The Japanese Ambassador explained that this diversity is due to the policy of tolerance adopted by the rulers of Japan over the years with different religions, and this strengthened the convergence between different religions, and the fusion of social customs in some of them, became celebration of marriage through rituals of Christianity, Buddhism or Shintoism even for non-believers Religions, noting that 50% of these rituals are Christian.

Japanese families are also resorting to Buddhist temples in funerary rituals, and these temples now provide recreational activities for families of various faiths.

For his part, Kazakhstan's ambassador in Doha Khosrhoshebzadeh said in a statement to Al Jazeera Net that the presentation of the experiences of countries in the field of cultural diversity is an important window to converge experiences and expertise and mechanisms to deal with different cultures in the environment of these cultures.

He pointed out that Qatar is a true model for embracing these cultures, where culture has invested in linking peoples and convergence and worked to create an environment in which more than 150 nationalities from different continents coexist, while maintaining its national identity and cultural heritage.

Zadeh said that accepting the culture of the other, regardless of religion or gender, promotes tolerance and peaceful coexistence, and rejects abhorrent racism and sectarian extremism.

Cultural years
Aisha Al-Attiyah, Head of the Cultural Years Program at Qatar Museums, monitored the state's experience, stressing that this program serves Qatar Vision 2030, which is based on promoting a culture of respect and tolerance.This vision succeeded in strengthening relations between Doha and the world through a range of cultural and artistic events. Most notably, book fairs, art galleries and applied workshops, in addition to festivals, competitions, performances and concerts.

She also explained that the ten-year initiative 2012-2021 began successively in Japan, followed by the United Kingdom, Brazil, Turkey, China, Germany, Russia and India in 2019.

She pointed out that the Cultural Years Program is not only a public initiative, but it is a project of work and building relationships, partnerships and cultural exchange that transmits Qatar's cultural and artistic image to all countries and opens its window to international cultures.It is also an invitation to discover the cultural similarities and differences between these countries.

Aisha Al Darmaki, Chairman of the Cultural Club of the Sultanate of Oman, focused on the investment and development of cultural diversity, which contributed to the creation of opportunities to develop it in line with the modern era and the major political, economic and technical changes witnessed by the whole world.

She added that the diversity of cultural components in the Sultanate is due to the diversity of national intellectual groups, on the one hand, and resident, on the other hand, as it can not be seen formations of this cultural diversity without those variables caused by expatriate groups that have contributed socially and culturally in the creation of a variety of intellectual diversity.

The opening session witnessed the speech of the Qatari Minister of Culture and Sports, Salah bin Ghanem Al-Ali, in which he explained that the search for the common and different humanity has become inevitable, although all people have their identity that distinguishes them. Because the progress of humanity is conditional.

The session also witnessed the speech of the Secretary General of the Asian Cooperation Dialogue (BCC), Burnshai Danvathanna, in which he stressed the need for an action plan that deals with culture and tourism as one of the most important tools that shed light on the dialogue among civilizations.

The second day of sessions will discuss the theme of communication and rapprochement between the culture of Asian countries at the level of principles and tools, and on the level of changes with the participation of a number of researchers and academics.