The Ministry of Culture and Italian Embassy launched yesterday two well-known Children’s books translated into Arabic language.
Minister of Culture H E Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al Thani and Italian Ambassador H E Alessandro Prunas presided over the launch ceremony. The books are La torta in cielo (The Cake in the Sky) and Fiabe lunghe un sorriso (Fairy tales long a smile) authored by Italian writer Gianni Rodari.
In a message, the minister said, “The youth are very sensitive and I think it needs a lot of attention from us and opening their eyes to different cultures, and different ideas are so important as they make them more acceptable for other cultures, for other ways of thinking.”
He also thanked H E Prunas during the launch and hoped that these two books would serve as inspiration for translation of other books. For his part, the Ambassador said: “This is very important because it is a bridge that we are creating between our two countries, starting from a very early age, for children. We are developing a new friendship from Italians and Qataris since very early age.”
The launch of books was held during the 31st Doha International Book Fair at Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre located in West Bay.
Gianni Rodari is most famous for his works of children’s literature. He received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1970, regarded as the Nobel Prize for children’s literature.
The book fair will continue until January 22. It features 430 exhibitors from 37 countries distributed over 845 pavilions. This year also marks its 50th year after it was launched in 1972.
It carries the theme “Knowledge is Light” and is organised by the Qatar Cultural and Heritage Events Center, under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture.
The fair comes in line with Qatar’s Vision 2030 aimed to develop the knowledge economy and the Ministry of Culture and Sports’ vision “Towards a society with an authentic conscience and a healthy body,” in addition to reflecting the state of the country’s cultural scene.
