Dr. Abdelilah Benarfa, Deputy Director-General (DG) of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), is participating in the 21^st Session of Sharjah International Narrator Forum that Sharjah Institute for Heritage holds under the slogan “Animal Stories”, under the patronage and with the participation of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council, Ruler of Sharjah, on September 22-30, 2021, to honor storytellers and bearers of oral heritage.

ICESCO Deputy DG will present a paper at the opening session of the forum on “Institutional efforts to protect living human treasures.”

38 countries and many international organizations, cultural centers, universities and heritage institutes are taking part in the forum, which includes a variety of workshops on traditional doll-making, storyteller, decorating pens and pencils, folding paper into animal shapes with wool threads, plaster coloring, recycling, drawing animals with numbers, drawing with colors, pencils, and charcoal.

The Forum’s program features various lectures, seminars, discussions and a cultural café, which will tackle the art of miniatures in the Islamic civilization, animal tongues in the Arabic novel, animals in the narratives of ancient Egypt, and animal stories in the Arab and world heritage.

Sudan will be the guest of honor of the forum, which will honor some figures. Thirty works on animal folk tales and stories related will be published, and a special exhibition will be organized on animal stories in the Emirati, Arab and world heritage.