Sharjah was the focal point at this year's Warsaw International Book Fair, the first Arab guest of honour in the event's history.
Led by Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, chairwoman of the Sharjah Book Authority, the emirate's delegation brought writers, publishers, institutions, artists and heritage performers to the event, which concluded on Sunday.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Sheikha Bodour said Sharjah's presence in the Polish capital reflected a belief in literature as a meeting point between cultures.
"Translation makes that courage possible," she said. "Translation connects worlds. It carries the questions of one civilisation into the heart of another."
"Civilisations do not have to resemble one another to understand one another," she added. "They only need to approach each other with patience, curiosity and empathy."
The connections between these two cultures in particular is far from a new thing, however. In fact, there's a deep history between Poland and the Arabic-speaking world, a link which proved influential across Europe.
Barbara Michalak-Pikulska, professor of Arabic literature at Jagiellonian University in the Polish city of Krakow, points to Wacław Rzewuski, the 19th-century Polish aristocrat, traveller and orientalist who helped fund one of Europe’s early magazines devoted to Arab and Oriental studies.
“He was the first one who mastered Arabic,” she said at a panel discussion at the fair. “After that, he travelled to Vienna, where he established and funded the first orientalist magazine in Europe, in French and German, titled Treasures of the East.”
That connection on the printed page continues this week, as Sheikha Bodour launched the first international translation of her book Let Them Know She Is Here: Searching for the Queen of Mleiha.
Holding a launch event at Ksiegarnia Korekty bookshop in the centre of the Polish capital, Sheikha Bodour spoke about the work in depth for the first time since it was published this year.
"This book, when you read Let Them Know She Is Here, it's like I've put my heart on a plate and I've given it to you,” she said. “You will understand a lot of what goes on inside of me and my mind, but it's also, I feel, universal because we're all like that.”
As Emirati culture continues to resonate across the world, the UAE's own institutions are making efforts to make its own cultural history more accessible.
The National Library and Archives has launched a virtual tour of the Sheikh Suroor bin Mohamed Al Nahyan Hall, making its archive available online.
The hall documents the life of Sheikh Suroor, a close companion of the UAE's Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, through records, photographs, films, interviews and personal belongings.
The institution has also launched Abu Dhabi Before 1971, a book produced with Assouline using more than 250 photographs from its archives.
The book documents life in Abu Dhabi before the formation of the UAE, including scenes of daily life, trade, architecture, education and early oil exploration. It includes images from the period before the federation, offering a visual record of the emirate as it changed in the years leading up to 1971.
Stories survive because people choose to preserve them, translate them and pass them on. This week, that effort was visible in bookshops, archives and across the UAE's cultural institutions – reminders that the work of safeguarding culture is also the work of sharing it.
Taha Suliman: ‘Sudanese song remains a missing voice in Arab music’
Taha Suliman says Sudanese audiences need joy now more than ever.
The Khartoum-born singer, whose smooth croon earned him the nickname Al Sultan, or “the authority”, spread some Eid cheer at The Agenda in Dubai on Friday, as Sudanese communities across the region continue to grapple with the consequences of the country’s civil war.
With that in mind, Suliman, who has toured across the Gulf, views his role on stage as more than entertainment and nostalgia.
“To be honest, for those living abroad, these concerts have become more than just a fun night out,” he tells The National.
“It is about bringing people together. You can see the sadness they are carrying from home, the concern they have for their families and the memories they hold, but we know the Sudanese people have gone through difficult times and we will overcome it."
Find more here.
The Spider-Noir role that took 1,300 auditions to cast
Everyone who read Spider-Noir creator Oren Uziel's scripts agreed on one thing: Janet Ruiz, Spider-Man's wise-cracking secretary, was their favourite character. But after more than 1,300 auditions, it seemed he might never find her.
"Everyone kept telling me 'We can't wait to see Janet,'" Uziel says. "But everybody instantly created their own picture in their head of who Janet was."
And none of those pictures quite matched the idea that Uziel had for the show, which reimagines Spider-Man in a classic Hollywood setting, turning the web-slinger into a down-on-his-luck detective named Ben Reilly, somewhere between The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon.
Janet, meanwhile, recalls the fast-talking heroines of screwball comedies such as His Girl Friday. Uziel's affection for that world runs deep – one of his daughters is named Hildy, after the film's lead character.
But Uziel never wanted this to be a mere pastiche. To make it all work, Janet also had to be the show's heart – she had to feel real. And he finally found that in Karen Rodriguez.
"It was wild. He said to me, 'we saw over 1,300 people, I personally saw 700 of them, and you're it,'" Rodriguez tells The National. "I was like – 'gulp'!"
Find more here.
Dates for your diary
Miami Band at Coca-Cola Arena, Dubai – August 29
Lewis Capaldi at Etihad Park, Abu Dhabi – December 3
Dhafer Youssef at NYU Abu Dhabi – December 19
Other highlights
The National produces newsletters across an array of subjects. You can sign up here.
