UAE launches ‘Andalusia: History and Civilization’ Initiative

Jerusalem, 27 June, 2023 (TPS) -- ABU DHABI, 22nd May, 2023 (WAM)
The UAE has launched the Andalusia: History and Civilization initiative, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court.

The initiative is organized by the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre and the National Library and Archives.

The launch of the six-month initiative, in partnership with the Kingdom of Spain, reflects the UAE’s unwavering belief in the necessity of openness with civilizations and convergence among cultures and religions.

The UAE, through the initiative, aims to shed light on the Andalusian civilization through an array of cultural and artistic activities aimed at developing the strong existing ties between the two countries. It also seeks to highlight the Arab civilization that Andalusia witnessed, and the culture of dialogue, tolerance, and the values of openness and coexistence, which are the same values that the UAE seeks, through various efforts, to spread them.

Mohammed Al Murr, Chairman of the “Andalusia: History and Civilization” Initiative Committee, said, “The launch of the initiative comes within the official interest of the UAE in the human heritage wherever it is, which comes through this serious participation that aims at preserving and restoring, introducing, and disseminating it globally, in addition to the fact that the initiative, in its essence, is an invitation to the general public to get acquainted with the components of one of the greatest Arab historical eras, and to educate new generations with the Andalusian civilization in its human, cultural and scientific heritage, as well as to highlight and uphold the culture of coexistence and tolerance.”

The initiative comprises various cultural and artistic events including, an exhibition of Andalusian art holdings which will be hosted by the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre in November 2023 for a period of six months, and two cultural seminars in which specialists and scholars will participate in Andalusian studies in all its cultural, literary and scientific disciplines.

Spain will host the first forum in September 2023, while the UAE will host the second forum in February 2024, in addition to a number of artistic and musical performances, including Andalusian stanzas (Muwashshahas), symphony orchestras, flamenco, and Arabic and Spanish melodies.

The initiative, through its various activities, enhances the role of the UAE that seeks to establish the values ​​of tolerance and coexistence, by inviting local and international communities who are interested in the Andalusian art, history and architecture, as well as researchers and academics, to discover one of the greatest historical eras shared between the Arabs and Spain.

The initiative is also a global cultural mission led by the UAE to highlight the Andalusian heritage and its cultural, artistic and intellectual legacy that prevailed in Andalusia, and to emphasize the shared history between Arabs and Spaniards over the past centuries, as well as the depth of Arab-Spanish relations today at the level of cultural work.

The initiative seeks to strengthen knowledge of the unique Andalusian civilization by translating the most important sources of Andalusian heritage in all arts and knowledge field, and republishing them in the Arabic language, to bring to mind a prosperous era in human history, and allow the Arab and international world to explore stages of continuous cultural exchange.