The second edition of the International Congress on Arab Publishing and Creative Industries has come to a close following a rich programme bringing together publishers, translators, content creators and entrepreneurs from around the world to discuss topics related the latest trends in publishing and Arabic content.
Held on 21 and 22 May 2023 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), under the theme ‘Adapting Stories’, the event was organised by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC), part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi), as part of the 32nd Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.
The congress programme featured a diverse series of panel discussions and workshops. ‘Arab Fantasy Tales: Where Has All That Magic Disappeared?’ saw Arab creatives discuss the challenges of adapting fantasy stories for wider audiences while staying true to the story’s cultural roots, and how creators can draw inspiration from the rich history of Arab literature to open new horizons for the genre. Speakers included Emirati filmmaker Nayla Al Khaja, CEO of Nayla Al Khaja Film Company and founder of Scene Club Film Club; author and scriptwriter Ahmed Murad; Creative Director of Sandstorm UAE Mohammed Al Shaibani; and Director of Shahid Original at MBC Group Ali Ghamloush. The moderator was Dr. Abdulwahab Khalifa, an expert in Arabic literature and translation.
The congress also discussed the relationship between education and entertainment in the session ‘Edutainment: Can Entertainment Be Used to Support the Quality of Education?’. This discussion explored the growth of edutainment and how effectively it encourages children and young people to learn, and how teachers and content creators can use it to improve educational outcomes. The panelists were CEO and Co-Founder of Adam & Mishmish Lama Adnani; Founder and CEO of Lamsa Bader Ward; Historian of Futurology and Science Fiction and Principal Lecturer at the University of Erasmus Rotterdam Etienne F. Oge; and Project Manager of the Children's Museum and Content Curator at Louvre Abu Dhabi Anne Haguel. The session was moderated by Dr. Hanada Taha, Professor of the Arabic Language Chair and Director of the Arabic Language Center for Research and Development at Zayed University.
The panel discussion ‘Audiobooks and Podcasts: Can an Audible Word Keep Up with Music?’ featured Karim Beydoun, CEO and Chief Content Officer of Hakawati; Mohammed Al Ajili, Vice President of Product Management at Anghami, the leading music streaming platform in the MENA region; Helena Gustafssen, Chief Content Officer at Storytel and CEO of Storyside, digital publisher of Storytel; and George Walkley, digital publishing expert. Moderated by columnist for The National Saeed Saeed, the panel addressed the recent expansion of music streaming platforms by adding audiobooks and podcasts to their users' music content, debating how this model of delivering integrated audio content can enhance the Arabic publishing industry and increase interest in reading, and what innovations are needed to support authors and publishers to take advantage of growth opportunities.
‘Translation or Adaptation of Content to Culture? Towards Increasing Access to Arabic Content’ highlighted the importance of the role of translation in adapting content for global audiences and providing international content to Arab audiences. Panelists included leading translators and content creators: author and translator Mohamed Esmat; Adham Abdullah, creative content writer at Wanderman Thompson; Younis Al-Jada, Director of Harmonization and Translation at Tamatem; and Nadia Al-Khayyat, Managing Partner of All Prints. The panel was moderated by Maha Abdullah, Senior Product Manager for International Printing at Adobe, and a former localisation consultant and regional language expert for the Middle East and North Africa at Netflix and Disney Plus streaming services.
The congress also addressed the conversion of novels into films, through a three-way panel discussion entitled ‘From the Pages of the Novel to the Screen: Transforming the Novel HWJN Into a Work of Cinema’, with the participation of the novel's author, Saudi writer Ibrahim Abbas, author and specialist in future studies Yasser Bahgat, and translator of HWJN and director Yasser Al-Yasiri.
'Practical Solutions: Real-Real-Reality Investing in Data in Shaping the Future of Arabic Content' focused on the importance of data as a driving force in many industries, including the content sector, and was presented by Ammar Heikal, CEO of Majara.
In addition to panel discussions, the congress programme included a range of workshops organised by congress partners the UAE Ministry of Culture and Youth, TRENDS Research and Advisory and New York University Abu Dhabi. These included ‘Literary Criticism in the UAE: Mechanisms and Challenges’, presented by critic and poet Sameh Kaoush, and ‘Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and the Arabic Language: Challenges and Opportunities’, presented by Dr. Nizar Habash, Professor of Computer Science at New York University Abu Dhabi and Director of the Computational Methods for Language Modeling Lab (CAMeL Lab).
