Category: ICCM11

** AlMalik, Zine El Abidine and a number of figures honored at the City of Culture in Tunis

** Bamako as the African region’s Capital of Islamic Culture… and Bukhara for the Asian region

During a special ceremony held in the City of Culture in Tunis, the Celebration of Tunis as the Arab region’s Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019 closed with the proclamation of Cairo as the Capital of Islamic Culture for 2020. Bukhara, Republic of Uzbekistan, will be the Asian region’s Capital of Islamic Culture for 2020 after Bandar Seri Begawan, Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam. As for the African region, Bamako, Republic of Mali, will be the Capital of Islamic Culture for 2020 succeeding Bissau, Republic of Guinea-Bissau.

The ceremony, held yesterday in the wake of the 11^th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers (ICCM) and attended by the members of the delegations participating in the Conference, started with an address by Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine, Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs, wherein he indicated that the Celebration of Tunis as the Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019 was held concurrently with the 40^th anniversary of its inscription on UNESCO World Heritage List.

Dr. Zine El Abidine also thanked ISESCO for its substantial cooperation to make this one-year-long event successful. “The event was not exclusive to Tunis, but also covered all the Tunisian cities and regions. It was an exceptional year by all measures”, he added.

Afterwards, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ISESCO Director General, gave an address wherein he thanked the Tunisian President, Mr. Kais Saied, for his patronage of the Conference, and commended the great attention paid by the Tunisian Government to the programme of the activities implemented as part of the Celebration.

Besides, Dr. AlMalik highlighted that ISESCO aimed, through the launch of the Programme of the Capitals of Islamic Culture and the choice of Makkah Al-Mukarramah in 2005 as the first Capital of Islamic Culture to inaugurate this great civilizational project, to promote joint cultural action and cultural development among states, achieve civilizational outreach, and export the enlightening Islamic culture.

Dr. AlMalik also reaffirmed that the Celebration of Tunis as the Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019 is a recognition of its cultural heritage and civilization contribution thanks to its cultural and religious monuments and landmarks bearing witness to its long-standing heritage and the uniqueness of its people and human heritage.

Afterwards, the ceremony honored Dr. AlMalik in appreciation of his efforts to ensure the success of the Conference and the Celebration. Dr. Zine El Abidine presented him with the Shield of the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

Mr. Mohamed Ghemari, Director of the Secretariat of the General Conference, Executive Council and Specialized Conferences at ISESCO, was also honored for his collaboration toward the success of the Conference and received the Shield of the Ministry.

Besides, Dr. Zine El Abidine was presented with as shield by Dr. AlMalik. The other figures honored during this ceremony are Dr. Faisal bin Mohamed Saleh, Sudanese Minister of Culture, President of the 10^th session of the Conference; Dr. Taïeb Baccouche, Secretary General of the Arab Maghreb Union; Dr. Hatem Ben Salem, Minister of Education and Acting Minister of Higher Education; Mr. Ahmed Adhoum, Tunisian Minister of Religious Affairs; Mr. Chadli Bouallag, Governor of Tunis; and Dr. Hayat Qatat Al-Qurmazi, Director of Culture at ALECSO.

Afterwards, the head of delegations of the countries, whose capitals were celebrated in 2019, passed the torch of Islamic Culture Capitals to their counterparts whose capitals will be celebrated in 2020. Then, the participants attended a show presented by the Tunisian Orchestra.

** AlMalik: development through culture is a priority choice…we should export our Islamic enlightening culture

** 70% of the world’s heritage sites in danger are in Islamic countries

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), called on the ministers of culture and competent parties in Member States to continue the submission of their technical files for the inscription of all the tangible, intangible, natural and industrial heritage sites in their countries on the Islamic World Heritage List.

In his address at the opening session of the 11^th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, kicked off today in Tunis, Dr. AlMalik first expressed his thanks to His Excellency Mr. Kaïs Saïed, President of the Republic of Tunisia, for his patronage of the Conference. He also thanked the Tunisian Government, represented by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs; and Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine, Minister of Cultural Affairs, for his support to hold this conference. In addition, he stated that ISESCO has set up a special unit to inscribe heritage sites in Muslim countries according to strict scientific and international standards and signed a cooperation agreement with UNESCO to inscribe Member States’ sites on the World Heritage List.

Moreover, ISESCO Director General warned against the degradation, disappearance, destruction, and looting of cultural institutions and cultural heritage in a number of Member States, pointing out that the List of World Heritage in Danger includes thirty-seven (37) sites in Muslim countries out of fifty-four (54) sites, accounting to almost 70% of the sites in danger.

“Even though Member States agreed to create the Islamic World Heritage Committee (IWHC) in 2007, the Committee had a shaky start as only five (5) sites were inscribed. However, with the new General Directorate, this situation has changed as ISESCO committed itself to inscribing one hundred (100) sites on the Islamic World Heritage List before the end of 2019 managed to exceed the said number, praise be to Allah, through concerted efforts with the IWHC and Member States, we were able to inscribe 132 sites. We then cheerfully ushered ourselves into the era of the codification of our cultural and civilizational heritage”, Dr. AlMalik added.

By the same token, Dr. AlMalik underscored the need for translating Member States’ cultural unity and solidarity regarding the preservation of 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 manuscript, etc.) on the Islamic World Heritage List. In this regard, he stressed that ISESCO has adopted this as part of its new vision.

Moreover, ISESCO Director General reaffirmed that access to development through culture has today become one of Member States’ strategic priority choices. As such, Dr. AlMalik underlined that culture should never be considered as a secondary sector and that cultural diplomacy and capital should be employed in serving cultural development in Muslim countries, defending their strategic interests, and exporting Islamic enlightening culture. Likewise, he called for keeping up with digital changesto promote culture and encourage creativity and innovation, in order to highlight Muslim societies’ rich cultural diversity, linking the achievement of this goal to providing new and diverse funding sources for cultural projects.

At the close of his address, ISESCO Director General wished every success to the Conference in reaching tangible outcomes and resolutions likely to achieve cultural development in the Islamic world.

Today at the City of Culture in Tunis, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), and Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine, Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs, held a press conference to announce the programme of the 11^th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers and the closing ceremony of the Celebration of Tunis as the Arab region’s Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019.

At the beginning of the press conference, Dr. AlMalik welcomed the journalists and media professionals, thanked H.E. Dr. Zine El Abidine, and commended the cultural activities held as part the celebration of Tunis as Capital of Islamic Culture for 2019. He also expressed his delight for the cultural activities which were not exclusive to Tunis, but also covered most regions of the Republic of Tunisia, while reaffirming that Tunis has given an exemplary model which is hard to compete by the following capitals of Islamic culture.

On his part, Dr. Zine El Abidine thanked ISESCO Director General and commended the cooperation between the Ministry and the Organization, particularly in renewing cultural action.

The Minister also reviewed the most important cultural activities which have been held by the Ministry throughout the year all over Tunisia, standing at 174 thousand activities.

Besides, Dr. Zine El Abidine stressed that the strong cooperation between the Ministry and ISESCO will continue so as to optimally benefit from it throughout the year 2019, while expressing the pride of his country in taking over the presidency of the Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers for the two coming years.

The Minister reiterated his welcome to Dr. AlMalik, the Culture Ministers of Muslim countries and the participating delegations in the 11^th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers while wishing every success to this Conference, hosted tomorrow by Tunisia.

Afterwards, the floor was given over to questions and discussions. Replying to a question on the potentials of digital technology in the field of culture, Dr. AlMalik said “the opportunities and challenges are immense in this context. Unless the Muslim countries benefit from such potentials, they would lag behind; which constitutes a serious and irreparable loss.”

Dr. AlMalik added that ISESCO has been aware of this issue and sought to benefit Member States from the immense potentials of digital technology, including the project on ‘Digital culture: opportunities and challenges’, which is submitted to the Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers among other items for consideration.

Responding to a question on the continuity and future of cooperation between the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs and ISESCO, Dr. Zine El Abidine replied: “this cooperation is strong and ongoing. It will continue and prosper between the two parties, especially after the concrete efforts to restore the vitality of the Organization with the appointment of Dr. AlMalik as Director General without overlooking the efforts of the former director general, Dr. Abdulaziz Altwaijri.”

Dr. Zine El Abidine also stated that “we believe that citizens are the main and most important target of every cultural activity. Throughout the last three year, we have sought to help citizen appreciate arts, culture and cultural creativity before its practice, and our efforts are still ongoing. ”

The Minister added that “we are glad of our achievements within this framework. We are looking forward to entrenching cultural diversity. In this regard, we have established Tunis International Center for Digital Cultural Economy and agreed with ISESCO Director General to share this vision, which will be considered tomorrow at the 11^th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers.”

The Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, examined with Dr. Rached Ghannouchi, President of the People’s Representatives Assembly of Tunisia, a number of issues related to ISESCO’s areas of action and the outstanding cooperation of the Republic of Tunisia with ISESCO in organizing many activities, including the 11^th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers and the close of the celebration of Tunis as Islamic Culture Capital for 2019.

This was part of a reception today by the President of the Assembly to ISESCO Director General and his accompanying delegation at the Assembly’s headquarters, during which Dr. AlMalik expressed ISESCO’s deep gratitude to the President, Government and people of Tunisia for their efforts to ensure the success of the 11^th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers and the celebration of Tunis as Islamic Culture Capital for 2019 during which many important activities and programmes were organized. He also stressed that the enormous efforts made by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs are an example to follow by future Islamic culture capitals to overcome their challenges.

From his part, Dr. Ghannouchi stated that ISESCO plays a pivotal role in the region and in the Islamic world as a whole in areas key to achieving development, particularly education, science and technology, wishing every success to the Organization in implementing its socially-conscious future programmes and plans.

In addition, the meeting touched on ISESCO’s new vision and action strategy for the next phase. In this regard, Dr. AlMalik reviewed a range of major programmes and projects already initiated by the Organization, most notably the waqf (endowment) project whose proceeds will go to financing ISESCO’s programmes and activities in Member States’ neediest areas to support and empower women and children. Dr. AlMalik also pointed out that, under the Organization’s new vision, studies will be carried out in the field of waqf in the Islamic world with a view to promoting and developing it.

In the same vein, Dr. Ghannouchi commended the idea of waqf and dubbed it as a practical solution to achieve ISESCO’s noble objectives. He underlined that waqf accounts for 30% of the expenditure of universities and civil society activities in Tunisia and that developed countries largely depend on it to ensure education and healthcare services to those in need.

Key among the issues discussed at the meeting are ISESCO’s efforts in the fight against extremist thought and the documents issued by the previous sessions of the Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers that constitute a cultural and intellectual approach to combat extremism and promote moderation and middle stance, as advocated by the noble religion of Islam. These documents call on Islamic countries’ legislative institutions to enact more laws to this effect.

“Extremism has severely harmed Islam and Muslims. Joint efforts have to be made to eradicate this plague”, Dr. Ghannouchi commented.

For his part, Dr. AlMalik stated that under its new vision, ISESCO endeavors to become a house of expertise for the Islamic world, hence the creation of the Center of Strategic Anticipation.

The two parties also explored the intellectual role played by ISESCO through “ISESCO Cultural Forum” which hosts renowned intellectuals from Muslim countries to discuss today’s issues and provide their suggestions and ideas.

The meeting brought together Mr. Nabil Hajji, Vice-President of the Assembly in charge of External Relations; Mr. Habib Khedhr, Head of the Cabinet of the President of the Assembly; Dr. Najib Rhiati, Director of Culture at ISESCO; Dr. Mohamed Ghemari, Director of the General Secretariat; Dr. Kais Hammami, Director of the Center of Strategic Anticipation at ISESCO; and Dr. Abdelilah Benarafa, Cultural Advisor to ISESCO Director General.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), explored with Dr. Mohamed Zine El Abidine, Tunisian Minister of Cultural Affairs, the latest state of preparations for the 11^th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, which kicks off tomorrow 17 December 2019 in Tunis.

This meeting was part of the airport reception of Dr. AlMalik by Dr. Zine El Abidine at the VIP Lounge at Carthage International Airport at his arrival to Tunis yesterday evening in a visit during which he will meeet a number of Tunisian Officials and take part at the Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, to be held by the Tunisian Ministry of Cultural Affairs, in cooperation with ISESCO, under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Tunisia, H.E. Mr. Kais Saied.

Afterwards, Dr. Zine El Abidine took Dr. AlMalik in a visit to the City of Culture, where they attended the closing ceremony of the 21^st Edition of Carthage Theatre Days. The festival honored a number of renowned Arab theatre artists from Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia, and awarded prizes to the winners.

It is worth mentioning that the first edition of Carthage Theatre Days was held on 7-15 November 1983. This event is an international theatre festival, supervised by the Tunisian Ministry of cultural Affairs, and brings together creators from various Arab countries. It is modelled on Carthage Cinema Days. In 2010, Carthage Music Days held its first edition.