Morocco: Eminent artists, scholars and musicologists came together at the Asilah Arts Festival in Morocco to discuss music in the world of Islam during a forum.

The conference, organised by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), through their Al Ain Centre for Music in the World of Islam initiative, was designed to give the artists an opportunity to discuss issues such as "How should we safeguard our musical heritage?"

The discussion heard contributions of participants from Senegal, Uzbekistan, France, China, Jordan and Turkey.

Lullabies

Cherif Khaznadar, chairman of the Advisory Board of the Al Ain Centre for Music in the World of Islam highlighted some of the centre's work in this field to date. "We are working on local projects — organising workshops and concerts every month. In parallel, we are working on some large-scale projects, including the digitisation of all of the content recorded at the Arabic Music conference in Cairo in 1932."

He also presented a short video clip highlighting one of the centre's other major projects.

"We want to raise awareness of lullabies. Many of these songs and many other children's songs are disappearing as parents use CDs and other electronic devices rather than singing to children."

The event concluded with an evening of musical entertainment including a performance from Bait Al Oud Al Arabi from Abu Dhabi. ADACH's role in the development of culture and heritage in the UAE was evident throughout this year's Asilah Festival. ADACH, along with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development and Masdar represented the UAE as guests of honour.