HM King affirms support for initiatives to preserve Bahrain’s heritage

His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa received, at the Al-Sakhir Palace today, the President of the International Organisation of Folk Art (IOV World), Ali Abdulla Khalifa, University of Bahrain (UoB) President, Dr. Riyad Yussef Hamzah, and Assistant Professor of Literary Criticism and Narratives, Dr. Dhiya Abdulla Al-Kaabi.

They presented HM King Hamad with the results of the first field survey including the largest number of folk tales in the Arab world, collected from Bahrain’s towns and villages.

The field survey was conducted with the support of 100 UoB students, and financed by IOV, whose main headquarters are located in the kingdom of Bahrain.

HM the King expressed thanks and appreciation to IOV and UoB for their valuable survey, commending the tremendous efforts they had exerted in completing the unique project, carried out within efforts to preserve Bahrain’s deep-rooted authentic cultural national heritage.

HM the King asserted that the encyclopedia is a valuable addition to the national publications, and an importance reference for researchers who are interested in the kingdom’s heritage and culture.

HM King Hamad lauded IOV’s keenness to support such important cultural researches, hailing its continuous efforts to preserve the heritage and folk art of countries, as well as to consolidate their national identities.

HM the King also paid tribute to UoB for the distinguished efforts exerted by Dr. Dhiya Abdulla, the supervisor of the project, commending the contributions of the UoB students for their distinguished achievements through which they seek to serve their nation and consolidate its leadership in many fields.

HM King Hamad affirmed support and encouragement for efforts and initiatives aimed at preserving Bahrain’s folk heritage and transferring it to the future generations, in light of the kingdom’s prestigious position on the world’s cultural map.

HM the King also asserted that Bahrain boasts a deep-rooted civilisation, historical monuments and a deep-rooted heritage based on commitment to the values of tolerance and openness to various human civilisations, wishing everyone further success.

IOV president extended profound thanks and gratitude to HM the King for his sound directives, as well as praise of the cultural achievement, praying to Allah the Almighty to protect HM King Hamad and to bless the kingdom and its people with further progress and prosperity.

Ali Abdulla Khalifa said that the initiative, the first of its kind in the Arab world, documented 1100 folk tales according to an accurate scientific approach that had been approved by international experts, adding that the tales were printed in five volumes.

It is to be noted that this is the first phase of the project, whose next phases aim to promote the Bahraini folk tales internationally.