Open books, open minds
Published on: Sunday, July 16, 2023
By: Kan Yaw Chong
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Open Books, Open Minds – facilitator of a book reading session exhorts, at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival May 3-14.
One means to do it is exhort everyone to “Open books, open minds”, for books are carriers of knowledge.
Surprising? That’s my concluding understanding of the UAE’s quest after covering the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival May 3-14.
They have a dream for a better society, better country, positive future and a better world!
How? Well, work for it, while being mindful of their limitations.
This is the work – invest in children now: Open books, Open minds, read, the emir exhorts.
Cultivate sound minds, sound thinking which will help do the job in the end.
‘World Book Capital 2019’
One event which nobody pays any attention is Sharjah City was voted “World Book Capital 2019 “, just three years ago, putting it in the same ranks as famous cities like Madrid, Athens, Amsterdam, Montreal, Strasbourg, Antwerp, New Dehli, Buenos Aire, Bierut etc – the first Persian Gulf and the third Arab country to be so named.
And the World Book Capital motto was – “Open books, Open minds.”
Influential Sheikha Bodour – daughter of Sheikh Dr Sultan, Ruler of Emirate Sharjah (left). Sheikh Dr Sultan – mastermind behind Sharjah’s literary fame (right).
Sharjah city.
The Emir (Sheikh Dr Sultan Muhammad Al Qasimi) was reportedly ecstatic about the “milestone” in chase of the world title, because it points to something bigger.
Open minded people are the opposite of closed minded people who are more interested in being right than learning other perspectives and asking questions.
Government policy cultivates happiness, tolerance, co-existence
Would anyone believe that happiness, tolerance and co-existence are official government policies?
For example, I was really stunned the UAE has a Minister of Happiness, in addition to a Minister of Tolerance and Co-existence!
Imagine Kuala Lumpur goes for that.
The Minister of Happiness must have performed because the UAE has been rated ‘The Happiest Country in the Arab World’ for eight consecutive years!
In fact, in an article by Ghalia Khoja, entitled ‘ Open books, Open minds’ published in The Unesco Courier, the writer quoted Mutahabbi, the illustrious 10th century Arab poet, known for his sharp intelligence and wittiness, many of his poems are still widely read in the Arab world, and considered proverbial: “The book is, in all circumstances, the best of companions”.
‘The book’ on tolerance
Heaping more tributes to books, Ghalia Khoja added: ‘The book remains a privileged medium for promoting the value of tolerance, co-existence and peace, for defending freedom of expression and fighting extremism and obscurantism (practice of deliberately preventing the facts), all common denominators of the events for 12 months, as part of the nomination of Sharjah as the Unesco World Capital City 2019.’
Is there any wonder the UAE has a Ministry of Tolerance and Co-existence?
The World Book Capital is a Unesco initiative founded in 2001 to recognise cities for promoting books and fostering reading.
Hugo Setzer, a President of the International Publishers Association - one of the organisations that advises the Unesco, cited requirements for getting the title: “Sometimes, the jury receives some requests from cities where they have a very strong publishing community, but they are not so much involved with librarians, book sellers, authors etc. It is important to have them all together,” Hugo noted.
So, there is a set of pretty tough requirements to meet.
Cohesion & integrated in Sharjah’s system
“Sharjah’s system, is more integrated and that was an important factor when deciding to bestow the honour. You certainly feel this cohesion as you wander around Sharjah,” Hugo said, noting
that wherever he went, he noticed the ubiquitous presence of colourful flags with its World Book Capital motto – “Open books, Open minds, fluttering in the winds.”
So the Unesco World Book Capital 2019 award essentially achieved the Emir’s vision of turning Emirate Sharjah into a ‘Centre of Literary World’
Famous golden dagger story
An anecdote from his childhood confirms what former US President once said: “Not all leaders are readers, but all leaders are readers.”
As a six young child, the story is Sheikh Dr Sultan Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, famously mortgaged the golden dagger his father gave him in order to buy books, when he was a child!
“The Unesco World Book Capital title made every one happy especially my father who felt that everything that he had done finally paid off,” said daughter, Sheikha Bodour.
But the journey to that vision was not always pretty.
Bouncing back from a failed 1st book fair
Writer Rupert Hawkley, reported that the first Sharjah International Book Fair in 1982 launched by the Emir, was actually a flop.
“Hardly anybody turned up, so much so that some book sellers suggested the fair be shut down after second day because sales were bad.”
On hearing this, Sheikh Dr Sultan - generous, thoughtful and instant in purpose, responded immediately – he raced to the site bought every single of the books on display to support the publishers, according to Hawley, who said the Emir possessed a “potent determination” make his dream come true.
‘Potent determination, key projects.
Under his “potent determination” to make Sharjah a Centre of Literary World, key projects were rolled out – one of which is none other than Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), set up in 2014, whose effect reached worldwide, including getting Daily Express or Sabah Publishing House involved in coverage.
The SBA is a literary umbrella which operates in a few sectors – publishing, printing, book translation and children literature, both ways.
Monument outside Sharjah Public Library, Cultural Square – symbol of ‘open books, open minds’.
SBA leads several major projects and events such as the Sharjah Publishing City, Sharjah libraries, Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, Sharjah International Book Fair, participation in other international book fairs, organises the Emeriti Book Fair to showcase Persian Gulf literary history etc.
Sharjah International Book Fair now 3rd largest
Today, the Sharjah International Book Fair (next one in November) is the third largest international book fair in the world.
Interestingly, there is a Sharjah Publishing City which is the first free zone for publishing in the Arab world.
From a threat to abandon the inaugural 1982 book fair by publishers, a sea
of 2,213 publishing houses from 95 countries and a record 2.52 million visitors turned up for the 2019 International Book Fair.
Dramatic turnaround
What a dramatic turnaround.
Worth noting is the award winning Kalimat Group, a publishing House established in 2007 by Sheikha Bodour, daughter the Ruler of Sharjah, Sheikh Dr Sultan, to promote Arabic language authors.
Today, Kalimat has published 450 titles, mostly for children and young adults, 120 of which by acclaimed Arabic authors.
In 2014, Kalimat was nominated for excellence in the publishing industry at the London Book Fair and in 2014, won the Best Publisher Award for Asia at the Bologna Children Book Fair followed by 2017 when it won the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for Publishing and Technology, according to Hawkley.
Success from fostering support
So why are we seeing success at every turn in Sharjah.
Leadership for sure, sensitive to needs that fosters active support.
Sheikha Bodour’s language is one of support, not just talk but put one’s money where one’s mouth is, meaning really act to support one’s stated purpose.
For example, the Emirate Publishers Association (EPA) is considered “a bastion of Sharjah’s Literary scene”, one core function of which is to promote and support translations from and into Arabic.
So where has EPA’s action gone?
It has been dedicated to supporting the UAE’s publishing industry via training and promoting Emirates on the world stage and mentoring new publishers to boost skills and experience.
In that act of support, the EPA also created a One Stop Shop initiative at the Sharjah Publishing City so that anyone who want to print, design covers, financial consultation can find all these service in one place, noted Hawkley.
When money & grants go to ‘Small is beautiful’
So where the money goes is a good test of genuine support.
In a famous book “Small is Beautiful”, British economist, Schumacher, sharply criticised the dehumanisation of what he called the 20th century intoxication with “gigantism” – mass production, mass culture, mass media, it is a vivid economic reminder that the small guys must not be despised or ignored.
So, the small guys in the literary scene are not ignored in Sharjah.
The proof? The Manassah Platform.
This is a grant that covers the expenses of smaller EPA members, ie, those who have published fewer than 20 titles, allowing them to exhibit at international book fairs, to connect and forge partnerships with international counterparts and contribute to advance and diversify content, Hawkley noted.
Important moments in ‘Knowledge Without Borders’
There are also smaller but interesting projects such as ‘Knowledge Without Borders’ programme, where each Emirati family in Sharjah was given 50 books to create their own library.
The government also notice the importance of small moments.
For example, government employees in UAE are entitled to “dedicated time to read” during working hours, as part of the national law, introduced by UAE President, Sheikh Khalifa, in 2016!
The estimated worth of the publishing market is about US$233 and expected to climb to US$659 (2,387 billion Dirham) by 2030, a quantum leap, asserted Rupert Hawkley.
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