ABU DHABI, May 19, 2020 WAM / The Calligraphy Studies Center at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina concluded today a training workshop entitled “Digital Documentation of Inscriptions: The Arabic Letter from Inscription to Digitization”, which is organized by Anassi Media in cooperation with the Calligraphy Studies Center in the Academic Research Sector at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding. Signature between the Library of Alexandria and Anassi for Media regarding the promotion of interest in Arabic inscriptions in different eras.
The workshop lasted for three days, from 16 to 18 May, at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina headquarters, in the presence of Saleh Al-Saadi, Deputy Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Arab Republic of Egypt, and Maryam Al-Mazrouei, Minister Plenipotentiary at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
At the end of the workshop, Dr. Ahmed Mansour, Director of the Calligraphy Studies Center at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, distributed certificates of completion of the workshop to the participants, professors of universities and scientific institutes, and specialists.
Participants in the training course also visited the restoration and digital chemistry laboratories inside the Bibliotheca Alexandrina to learn about its role in preserving the cultural heritage, manuscripts and historical documents contained in the library, which date to many important historical periods through different eras.
The workshop shed light on the sites of ancient inscriptions in the Arab region, which is an important reference that monitors the history of Arabic writing, and the “Arabic Inscriptions Gate”, which is the largest joint Arab cultural project for the year 2023, which was launched by Anassi Media under the auspices of His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture. Tolerance and coexistence, and was chosen at the conference of Arab ministers organized at Expo 2020, to transform from an Emirati project into a joint Arab-international project for a full year to unify Arab efforts in the cultural industries, given its importance in documenting one of the components of cultural heritage in Arab countries and making it available to all scholars, researchers and those interested in this genre. From the written heritage, and it was agreed to enrich the portal by all Arab countries represented by their ministries of culture and tourism.
The workshop also shed light on the study of the aesthetics and functions of the Arabic letter through artistic and typographical paintings, in addition to introducing photographic techniques for inscriptions, learning about previous and current experiences and experiences in the field of digitizing inscriptions, and finally identifying the impact of climate changes on world heritage sites in the Arab region.
