Minister of culture opens QU Book Fair

HE the Minister of Culture Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad al-Thani and Qatar University (QU) President Dr Hassan bin Rashid al-Derham inaugurated Tuesday the Qatar University Book Fair 2023.

Present on the occasion were a number of QU vice-presidents, officials from the Ministry of Culture, representatives of local publishing houses and university students, as well as a large number of university employees and interested parties.
Under the theme Culture ... A Learning Journey, the exhibition has been organised with co-operation between the Ministry of Culture, represented by the Qatari Publishers and Distributors Forum, and Qatar University Press.

It is being held until March 5 at the headquarters of the new Student Affairs building at the QU.
This cultural event “stems from the vision of the Ministry of Culture and the QU in preserving the intellectual and cultural heritage of Qatari authors and enriching the field of knowledge, in addition to providing the appropriate environment for more than 26,000 students at Qatar University to access books and benefit from Qatar’s cultural stock across various interests and specialisations”, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) said.
In a related statement, the QU said that the book fair will host leading Qatar publishing houses, cultural events and panel discussions with authors and their latest releases.
These include the launch of the book The Debate over Conflicts and Settlements Behind the Scenes of the Security Council: the Iraq-Iran War 1980-1988by HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari and a panel discussion of Geopolitics of Sports, translated by Prof Ahmad Haji Safar.

Eighteen local publishing houses are participating in the first edition of the Qatar University Book Fair, and two official entities are participating – the Ministry of Culture and the QU, the QNA said, adding that the fair will also host workshops.
Director of QU Press Dr Fatima al-Suwaidi said: “We welcome our visitors to the Qatar University Book Fair, an event that constitutes an important part of the university’s vision, mission and goals and which aims to support education and spread culture among members of society.”
“Allow me to extend my thanks and appreciation to the Ministry of Culture for its distinguished support of this exhibition, and Qatar University looks forward to important future participations that widen the horizons for university students,” she said.
Riyad Yassin, director of the Qatari Forum for Publishers and Distributors, noted: “First of all, on behalf of myself and the Forum, I would like to thank our partners at Qatar University for their effort, dedicated co-operation and for providing all facilities in pursuit of achieving the goals and aspirations of the exhibition.”
“I also thank the participating publishing and distribution houses for their initiative to be part of this huge cultural event and for their outstanding contribution to providing the exhibition with many valuable publications and books,” he said.
Yassin pointed out that the vision of the exhibition is to provide an opportunity for university students of various disciplines and interests to access books and authors, open the field of intellectual and cultural exchange enjoyed by the country, and contribute to raising the level of reading among the members of society.
The exhibition also aims to activate the role of universities as educational institutions that contribute to the development and promotion of the cultural movement on the one hand and pay attention to their role in educating students on the other hand, through workshops, courses and various book launches that will be interspersed with the events and activities of the exhibition.