Video .. The start of the activities of the Doha International Book Fair

Imad Murad - Doha

With the aim of promoting the knowledge industry and opening direct channels between writers, publishers and the public, the activities of the 30th Doha International Book Fair were launched today under the slogan "Do you not think"?

The exhibition, which is the most prominent cultural event in Qatar, witnesses the participation of 335 publishing houses representing 31 Arab and foreign countries, in addition to many official and private state institutions, at a time when France is a guest of honor to celebrate the cultural year Qatar - France 2020, and the exhibition also includes 797 pavilions, established On 29 thousand square meters.

The Doha Book Fair, which lasts until January 18th, has a prominent international status, and has witnessed a qualitative shift in recent years as it has become a stop for knowledge lovers of all kinds and an incentive to search for it, through serious contributions from distinguished publishers, and a great interaction between intellectuals from Qatar And beyond, as well as being a reflection of the country's cultural scene.

The design of the exhibition this year came in a different way. It was divided into five gates named after intellectual symbols from Qatar and the Arab and foreign worlds who left but who left clear imprints on cultural life until today. The first portals were named after the pioneer of Qatari literature Yusuf bin Abdul Rahman Al-Khulaifi, in When the second gate came in the name of the late Egyptian thinker Mustafa Mahmoud who devoted his life to writing and spreading awareness in society.

Then the visitor moves to the portal of the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, one of the most prominent philosophers of the Enlightenment, and in the next portal the visitor of the book fair remembers the French poet Paul Elouar, who was one of the founders of the Surrealist movement, while the last portal was named after the Qatari thinker Abdullah bin Turki Al-Subaie, He is one of the Sharia scholars and a pioneer of educational renaissance.

This session witnesses the broadest participation of the private Qatari publishing houses by offering hundreds of titles for Qatari and Arab authors, as well as multiple translations for foreign writers, including: Katara Publishing House, where the house’s pavilion includes about 150 titles that include all aspects of literature, while Hamad Bin Khalifa University Publishing House is published With its pavilion more than 100 new titles from various literary and scientific books, and the Rosa publishing house offers 115 titles, of which 49 are new publications in various fields, while Dar Al-Wedd offers 35 publications.

Busy program
The exhibition includes a cultural program full of more than four hundred seminars, cultural evening, lectures, workshops and book signatures, as well as children's activities, and the main theater of the exhibition will host many seminars and lectures, including a symposium entitled "Women of the Moon from the Local to the World" by the Omani writer and critic Gokha Al Harthy, and a lecture entitled "Promotion The heritage to build a better future "presented by the French Philippe Lavalle, a lecture entitled" Science between thinking and thinking ", and a seminar entitled" Turkish culture between historical depth and cultural openness ".

Among the important seminars that the main theater also hosts is a symposium "Museums is a message of peace", a lecture "How did the child think?", A symposium of doctors and writers, and a lecture on "the concept of work and civilization scramble", as well as musical evenings such as the evening of French music in the century are held on the same stage XVII and Qatari shrines "Eternal Works of the Late Qatari Artist Abdul Aziz Nasser".

The cultural salon witnesses a variety of activities inside the exhibition, the most prominent of which are the theatrical dialogue session, the signing of the book "Syria Peace", the signature of the book "Turquoise Mountain ... Afghan art, heritage and continuity", the signing of the book "The Georgian Novel", and the signature of the books of the Algerian novelist Ahlam Mostaghanemi, in A time when the exhibition will witness the launch of the Doha Fellowship Program for publishers in the Cultural Salon, in addition to discussing many new books throughout the exhibition days.

Knowledge Festival
Radi Al-Hajri, Vice President of the Cultural Committee of the exhibition, described in a statement to Al-Jazeera Net the current version of the exhibition a knowledge festival that targets all groups of society, as it includes many different activities that make this copy one of the largest sessions of the exhibition throughout its history.

Al-Hajri confirms that the large foreign participation in the current version came because of the position that the Doha Book Fair is enjoying internationally, as well as the efforts made by state institutions in the field of supporting culture in society.

The Doha International Book Fair is one of the largest international book fairs that are held in the region and has a great position due to the great demand witnessed by Arab and foreign countries, and that has been increasing since the establishment of its first sessions in the year 1972, and the exhibition was held every two years until 2002, until it was decided Established annually after he succeeded in attracting the largest and most important publishing houses in the world.