Turkey hosts Emirati Cultural Festival

Istanbul: Abdul Rahman Mohammad Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development sought to emphasise the importance of inter-faith dialogue for the world to understand how Muslims see Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and the reverence with which they speak about him.

Speaking at the Burda Award exhibition at the Dolma Pasha Museum in Istanbul, Al Owais said that the collections owned by the Award reflected its ideology and a civilised cultural style for inter-faith dialogue.

Owais inaugurated the exhibition on Friday as part of the Emirati Cultural Festival that began in Turkey on Thursday. Organised by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development in association with the UAE embassy, the festival will run until October 15.

Al Owais hailed the deep-rooted cultural relations between UAE and Turkey and said that Istanbul was chosen for the Burda exhibition because of its special place in ancient Islamic history.

The gallery of Burda collections based in Abu Dhabi was airlifted to Turkey for the exhibition.

The Burda Award — one of the most celebrated awards in the Muslim world — was instituted in remembrance of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) nine years ago with support from Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who was the Minister of Culture at the time, Al Owais recalled.

The award is named after Qassedat Al Burda (Poem of the Mantle) — an ode of praise for Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) composed by the Sufi poet Eman Al Busiri.

The Al Burda Award recognises cultural achievements under three main categories — poetry in classical Arabic language, calligraphy, and Islamic illumination art. Each year, non-Arabs and non-Muslims send a good number of entries for the award.