Bahrain Fort welcomes Ta’a Al Shabab’s 7th edition

Manama

 The Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities launched its seventh annual Ta’a Al Shabab festival last night in the Bahrain Fort at 7pm.

 The festival was launched in the presence of Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, President of Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities.

 Shaikha Mai said, "We are still betting on young people and their dreams and their ability to influence the cultural events of Bahrain."

 As soon as Shaikha Mai entered the cafe reception hall of the fort, traditional drummers and chanters joined the crowd and guided them to walk to the great site of Bahrain Fort.

 The fort captivated its visitors with its colorful lights. Guests were seated to find four-staged performers placed in different parts of the fort view along with a traditional band.

 With the formation of the creative opening ceremony thanks to Ali Miraza, guests were delighted by the poetic, musical performance and expression of "We Were Here".

 The poetic performance conveyed nature elements of the sea, sand, trees and pearls to capture the past and the present of Bahrain.

 The poets recited their verses as they claimed their roots from the ground they stood on, all the more exemplifying the connection of our presence in the fort to our ancestors.

 This seventh season is themed under Heritage as it complements the celebration of BACA’s theme ‘Our Heritage, Our Wealth’ in order to carry the character through the vision and dreams of Bahraini youth combining elements of local traditions and modernity.

 The festival combined traditional and modern tales of Bahrain Fort’s history as they celebrated famous Bahraini poet Abdulrahman Rafea's legacy.

 The programme will continue until September 30 under 6 main programmes this season, namely ‘We all Read’ which emphasizes active reading and pursuit of knowledge, ‘Hafawa’ which is a tribute to legacies of late intellectual luminaries from the Arab World, ‘Tashkeel’ which focuses on fine arts as a tool for communication and expression, ‘Premiere’ which focuses on the art of movie making and namely two other new activities called ‘Hayat’ which is a health related programme and ‘Harmony’ which is dedicated for music enthusiasts.

 The Life programme will give youth the chance to participate in "Move 2" in Seef Mall of Muharraq.

 As for the Premiere programme, the first initiative is an event titled 'First Experience' which gives youth the chance to get to know the cinematic scene in Bahrain.

 There is also another initiative of the Premiere programme called 'Cinema on the Road' which is a collection of short movies produced and directed by Ta'a Al Shabab members to be presented for passerby’s.

 BACA's Media Advisor, Elie Flouty, said this season's Ta'a Al Shabab offers 15 activities under the 6 programmes with poets and writers from several countries like Libya, KSA and Sudan to be participating in different districts in Bahrain.

 He said, "We launched the event in Qala'at Al Bahrain fort as it is one of the oldest sites that conveys the most relative presence to our theme. We have around 500 youth members participating and we want to let them feel the importance of culture in their lives as Her Highness would want them to live their culture through creativity."

 On the side of the performance view, artist Zahera Abdulwahed who is part of Tashkeel programme was sketching a grand portrait of poet Abdulrahman Rafea. She said, "Ta'a Al Shabab programmes have offered us an opportunity to practice our skills and passion by showcasing our identity through our work and talent. This season has definitely launched itself with a stronger cultural presence and sentiment than before."