28 June 2010

BEIRUT: A first-ever festival to promote the Arabic language was held this weekend in Beirut, focusing on art, music and theater to encourage a national and regional effort to get young people enthusiastic about the language.

Hamra Street was filled with children running around, with Arabic letters attached to their shirts, marking the opening of the 2 kilometer “letter marathon.” The race was of symbolic value as it pointed out that language isn’t a distant goal; with only a bit of effort, anyone can reach it.

Suzanne Talhouk, president of Feil Amer (Imperative), the host organization, explains, “people think that Arabic is outdated, that it is too old. What we’re doing is putting the language in the right concept, we are relating it to contemporary art, so that people can relate to it as well.”

The Feil Amer initiative was launched in January 2010, and its main purpose is to build a cultural landscape and social background to help the development of language awareness, since the latter is directly related to national identity.

The organization stresses the UN’s “right of people to preserve their mother tongue,” as its members consider this to be a primary human right.

The goal of the festival was to change young people’s perception of the Arabic language, through various performances and activities. Among the children’s activities, the most popular workshop included dipping a letter in paint and then putting it on a T-shirt. The children were then asked to create a word using the letter, which allowed them to customize the T-shirt.

“I wanted to create a character out of each letter, as a way to attract the children toward them,” said graphic designer Mona Yakzan, who organized the workshop.

Another popular stand was the “Kotobus,” or Book Bus, organized by reading promoters AS-SABIL, active on the public library scene. There are currently two such vehicles, traveling around Lebanon to distribute books in public schools. During the summer months, Kotobus works with various organizations to promote reading, to round out the all-year effort.

Visitors at the inaugural Arabic festival said they appreciated the effort in a country where French and English often push out Arabic, whether in formal discourse, or informal conversations and communication.

“It’s a step toward improvement,” said Eva Zayat, a parent who was accompanied by her children. “Awareness-raising must be done at least once a year! Some kids don’t speak Arabic at all, and this is not something to be proud of!”

Local youngsters who participated in the event were also very enthusiastic.

Abdel-Rahim Masri, 14, said, “Arabic is our foundation; it’s good to know other languages, but being Lebanese means being Arab, and it is our duty to know our language.”

One of the participants in the festival was Dany Doumit, from the firm TALA, which organized a stand promoting educational games, including puzzles, quiz board games and books. Doumit said that all of the materials are distributed in public schools throughout the country, and suggested holding the festival during the academic year.

Artist Mariam Al-Dana also participated in the event, and said she tried to encourage as much as possible an expression of the Arabic language through her paintings.

“Our essential language is Arabic, and we are neglecting it,” she said, adding: “Foreigners come here and fall in love with our language, yet, it is hard for them to learn how to read and write it. We, on the other hand, know it and choose to ignore it. It’s quite a shame.”

The festival lasted from early morning until 11 pm, promoting Arabic through a range of artistic and other efforts: five short documentaries films, dance and theater performances, a number of book stands and a puppet show, as well as a painting exhibition, poetry and literature reading, topped off by an evening concert.

The band Ghazi Abdelbaki and Friends was also on hand, and performed songs from its most recent album, “The Last Communiqué,” which was released in December.

“We’re just a group of musicians having fun,” said Abdelbaki. Their music is mainly a fusion of Bedouin funk and arabofunk samba. “Our lyrics come from classical colloquial Arabic writings, such as Elia Abu Madi.”

The turnout for the festival was brisk and encouraging, and Talhouk insisted that awareness raising regarding the Arabic language should be on Lebanon’s official agenda. She hopes the event will take place three times per year, instead of one time only.

“Eventually, we want this to be a regional event, where everyone would be encouraged to produce in Arabic,” she said.

Copyright The Daily Star 2010.