Category: Culture and Communication

The delegation of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) concluded its visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan with a series of meetings with officials from the Uzbek Ministry of Culture, as part of the preparations for the celebration of Bukhara as the Asian region’s Islamic World Capital of Culture for 2020.

At the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture in Tashkent, ICESCO delegation, composed of Mr. Najib Rhiati, Director of Culture, Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Cultural Advisor to the General Director, and Mr. Bilal Chebbi, Programme Specialist at the Directorate of Culture, met with Mr. Ozodbek Nazarbekov, Minister of Culture of Uzbekistan, and a number of the Ministry officials, and together they discussed the outcomes of the meetings of ICESCO delegation and its visits to the cities of Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand; and agreed upon the minutes of the coordination meetings.

Afterwards, ICESCO delegation met with Mr. Rustam Kasimov, Advisor to the President and President of the International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan. The delegation also met with the Director of ICESCO Chair for Islamic Civilization, Dr. Doran Maksudov, and the teaching staff (38 teachers), who are teaching 500 students within the framework of the Chair. The two parties reviewed the activities of the Chair and its contribution to the celebration of Bukhara; and the delegation took stock of the Chair’s needs in terms of providing grants and hiring a professor of Arabic language and a professor of Sharia sciences.

Following its meetings at the headquarters of the Ministry of Culture and in the presence of officials in the Ministry, ICESCO delegation along with the Deputy Minister held a press conference wherein the delegation presented ICESCO’s conception of the celebration as part of the Organization’s new vision.

As part of the arrangements for the celebration of Bukhara as the Asian region’s Islamic World Capital of Culture for 2020, the delegation of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) continued its visit to Uzbekistan. Today, they toured Imam Bukhari International Scientific Research Center (IBISRC) and the Madrasah (Sharia school) of Samarkand, Uzbekistan’s second largest city.

The delegation of Mr. Najib Rhiati, Director of Culture, Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Cultural Advisor to the Director General, and Bilel Chebbi, Programme Specialist at the Culture Directorate, discussed with the IBISRC Director the establishment of “ICESCO Regional Center for Manuscripts” to operate under the umbrella of IBISRC. Through training sessions, the future Center will allow IBISRC to build capacities in the conservation of rare manuscripts in the region as it is home to a large number of such heritage documents.  

The delegation also visited the mill of manuscript paper where the manual method is still in use today. Officials at the mill said that the handmade paper is eye-friendly and maintains a life-span of 2000 years against maximum 100 years for industrial paper.

The officials of the Uzbek Ministry of Culture and the delegation agreed to inscribe the know-how and skills of the production of the Samarkand paper on the List of Intangible Heritage in the Islamic World.

A delegation from the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) composed of Mr. Najib Rhiati, Director of Culture, Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Cultural Advisor to Director General, and Mr. Bilel Chebbi, Programme Specialist at the Directorate of Culture, in Tashkent, held a coordination meeting with officials from the Uzbek Ministry of Culture on the celebration of Bukhara as the Asian region’s Capital of Islamic Culture for 2020.

The meeting centered on the arrangements to be made to implement the programmes of the celebration. In this regard, the Uzbek officials invited Dr.Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General, to visit Uzbekistan and attend the official launch of its ceremony. They also lauded the new start ushered in by ICESCO just after the adoption by the 40^th session of Executive Council (Abu Dhabi, UAE, 29-30 January 2020) of the Organization’s New Strategic Vision and expressed their country’s willingness to contribute to the Development Waqf Fund launched to ensure sustainable funding of programmes and projects.

In addition, the two parties agreed to establish a global forum on Islamic civilization in Bukhara, Tashkent, and Samarkand, and invite several culture ministers and intellectual and cultural figures from the Islamic and beyond to attend the launch of the Celebration. They also suggested to set up a ICESCO Chair on Imam Al Bukhari at the University of al-Qarawiyyin to be funded by Uzbekistan.

In another vein, the meeting focused on the inscription of many heritage sites and elements of tangible and intangible heritage in Uzbekistan on the Islamic World Heritage List (IWHL) and examine the organization of an international conference on the role of translation in bringing cultures together and a training workshop in Uzbekistan for the staff working in the field of heritage.

Next, ICESCO delegation visited the  construction site of the Center of Islamic Civilization and, at the request of the Center’s director, provided some suggestions relevant to the design of the exhbition space of the the manuscript of Uthman Quran and the exhibition galleries of purchased artifacts and the history of Islamic civilization. The Center will be inaugurated at the close of the Celeberation. 

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) took part in the coordination meeting with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture and the Egyptian National Commission for Education, Science and Culture as part of celebrating Cairo as Islamic World Capital of Culture for 2020 for the Arab region, on 2-3 February 2020 as part of the preparation for this event.

During the meeting, ICESCO coordinated with the relevant Egyptian authorities to prepare the programme of the celebration and discuss on the activities and events to be organized jointly with the Arab Republic of Egypt throughout this year. The two parties also agreed to launch the official ceremony of the celebration on 5 April 2020, in the presence of H.E. Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director General.

On 03 February at the Cairo International Book Fair, the Egyptian Ministry of Culture held a press conference to announce the broad lines of the celebration. In this regard, Dr. Inas Abdel-Dayem, Egyptian Minister of Culture, and Mr. Najib Rhiati, Director of Culture at ICESCO, announced the launch of the event soon after the close of the 40^th ICESCO Executive Council which adopted several amendments necessary for the implementation of the Organization’s new strategic vision, including the new modified name of “Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization”.

The celebration marks the actual begining of the strategic shift in ICESCO’s vision since Cairo is the embodiment of this new vision given its long history of coexistence and tolerance between religions, cultures and ethnicities.

ICESCO was represented in the meeting by Mr. Najib Rhiati, Director of Culture; Abdelilah Benarafa, Cultural Advisor to Director General; and Dr. Osama Elnahas, Programme Specialist.

Is traditional media dead, and how can paper press survive in the digital era? This question will be tackled at the 3^rd gathering of ISESCO Cultural Forum, which was launched by the General Directorate of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), and hosts intellectuals from inside and outside the Islamic world to discuss major intellectual and cultural issues. ISESCO published a series of booklets on the previous gatherings. The 3^rd gathering, due to be held on 21 January 2020 at 18:00, at ISESCO headquarters in Rabat, will discuss the theme “Future of Information: From paper to digital press”.

The forum hosts three renowned media figures in the Arab world, namely Mr. Khalid Al-Malik, Editor-in-Chief of the Saudi Newspaper Al Jazirah, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Journalists Association, and President of the Gulf Press Union; Mr. Alaa Thabet, journalist and Editor-in-Chief of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram; and Mr. Mohammed Seddik Maaninou, renowned Moroccan writer and journalist, who served in many positions, including former director of the National Television, and former general secretary of the Ministry of Communication.  

The gathering will discuss the various aspects of this issue, including the environmental dimensions as journalism has been related, since its emergence, to paper and still maintains this relationship in spite of the competition with the radio and television. However, deforestation and the exacerbation of environmental problems as well as the transformations induced by the digital revolution have immensely reshaped the relationship of press with paper, changed media practice, and influenced the development of journalism.

Among the salient manifestations of this development is the renewal of media practice, the reorganization of the editorial boards in media institutions, the development of the new media activities and professions, and the new competencies required in this field. Besides, the areas of press have expanded to cover new sectors. New types of press also appeared as part of the opportunities offered by the technological development.

The emergence of social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook had a clear impact on press and information. These networks have become among the working mechanisms of journalists taking into account their impacts likely to threaten the profession’s ethics.

It is worth mentioning that the first and second gatherings of ISESCO Cultural Forum had a great media coverage both inside the Seat Country and abroad. They were attended by a large and diverse audience, including intellectuals, politicians, media professionals, civil society organizations, professors, researchers and students. The invitation is open to anyone interested to attend. 

The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) adopted the inscription of Rabat, capital of the Kingdom of Morocco; Tunis, Kairouan and Mahdia, the Republic of Tunisia; the historical region of Cairo in the capital of Egypt; and Kasbah region in Algiers, Republic of Algeria; as well as Nizwa, Sultanate of Oman, on the Islamic World Heritage List.

This adoption was on the Final Report of the 11^th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, held in Tunis on 17-18 December 2019 under the theme “Toward the Development of Current Cultural Policies in the Islamic World”, with the participation of 50 countries and 15 regional and international organizations.

 Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ISESCO Director General, had requested the Ministers of Culture and the competent parties in Member States to continue the submission of the technical files to inscribe all the tangible, intangible, natural and industrial heritage sites in their countries on the Islamic World Heritage List.

In his address at the Conference’s opening session, Dr. AlMalik stated that ISESCO established a special unit for the inscription of heritage sites in Muslim countries according to strict scientific and international standards. ISESCO also signed a cooperation agreement with UNESCO on the inscription of heritage sites of Member States on the World Heritage List.

Besides, Dr. AlMalik underlined that heritage and cultural heritage in many Member States are subject to disappearance, destruction and looting as the List of World Heritage in Danger includes 37 sites in Muslim countries out of 54 sites accounting to almost 70% of the sites in danger.

ISESCO Director General also stressed the importance of translating the cultural unity and solidarity regarding the preservation of the Islamic cultural heritage into a programme to be supervised by ISESCO to jointly inscribe a number of exemplary historical and civilizational routes (Hajj route, routes of trade caravans, and the routes of travelers, scholars, students and manuscripts, etc) on the Islamic World Heritage List while reaffirming that ISESCO adopted this action within its new vision.

As part of the activation of the initiative of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) to restore the house of the polymath Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn Khaldūn in downtown Tunis, announced by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ISESCO Director General, at the closing ceremony of the Celebration of Tunis as the Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019, ISESCO signed a partnership agreement with the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs to initiate the restoration and conservation works of this architectural monument.

The Agreement, signed in Tunis, provides for the commitment of ISESCO to finance the works of restoration and conservation of the house of Ibn Khaldūn, according to the technical report prepared by the Tunisian National Heritage Institute, whereas The Ministry undertakes to use the funds provided by ISESCO in the works of restoration and conservation of the house of Ibn Khaldūn. The necessary funding shall be settled in three (3) installments, the first of which stands at 30% of the gross amount to be transferred as from the date of the signing of the Agreement.

The Agreement also provides for the establishment of a joint committee to follow-up to the project, composed of two representatives of ISESCO, one representative of the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, and one representative of the Agency for Heritage Development and Cultural Promotion (AMVPPC). The period of implementation of the Agreement shall be two years as from the date of the signing thereof.

The signing was attended by Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine, Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs, and a number of officials of the Ministry, as well as Mr. Mohamed Ghemari, Director of the Secretariat of the General Conference, Executive Council and Specialized Ministerial Conferences, and Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Centre of Strategic Anticipation.

The Agreement was signed for ISESCO by Dr. Mohamed Hedi Shili, Legal Advisor to the Director General, and for the Ministry by Mr. Faouzi Mahfoudh, Director General of the National Heritage Institute.

It is worth mentioning that ISESCO’s initiative to restore the house of Ibn Khaldūn, announced by Dr. AlMalik in Tunis, was greatly commended in Member States. This initiative reaffirms ISESCO’s new vision which keeps up with the digital cultural transformations and calls for investment in the cultural diplomacy, promotion of the cultural capital, and exportation of the Islamic enlightening culture to the world.