Mohammed Hussein Sharif, Ambassador of the Republic of Maldives to the UAE, called on Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Musallam, President of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, on Tuesday, on an official visit.

The visit was aimed at enhancing

 cultural and heritage cooperation between the two countries, and received an official invitation to choose the Maldives as the guest of honor of the twenty-fifth session of the Sharjah International Narrator Forum.

At the meeting Al-Musallam expressed his pleasure to host the Ambassador of the Republic of Maldives, who was a guest of the Institute, as the occasion was a good opportunity to discuss aspects of cooperation in the fields of intangible cultural heritage, and to exchange experiences in preserving and documenting oral narratives and folk tales. 

The Ambassador for his part handed the official invitation to choose his country as the guest of honor of the Sharjah International Narrator Forum in its twenty-fifth session, based on deep appreciation for the ancient Maldivian culture. 

Mr. Shareef further said the narrator forum has become a global platform that celebrates storytellers, narrators and bearers of popular memory from different cultures, and the participation of the Maldives this year will enrich its program with new tributaries of tales and legends associated with the sea and islands, which are close to the country’s Gulf heritage.

Further, Mohammed Hussein Shareef expressed his deep appreciation for the invitation he received from the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, praising the efforts of Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Musallam in building bridges of cultural communication between peoples. He pointed out that the selection of his country as the guest of honor for the Sharjah International Narrator Forum is a qualitative opportunity to present the Maldivian heritage to an Arab and international audience.

He added that the Maldives has a rich wealth of tales, legends and oral narrations inspired by the marine environment and islands, which makes its upcoming participation in the forum an authentic contribution to enriching the cultural scene and promoting intercultural dialogue.

During the meeting, an introductory video was shown about Maldivian Heritage Week 2021, and the two sides discussed opportunities for cultural cooperation and upcoming Maldivian participation in the activities of the Narrator Forum. Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Musallam presented to the guest a set of publications of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage office that shed light on the Emirati and Gulf cultural heritage, especially in the fields of folk tales and oral memory.

Later Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Musallam accompanied the Ambassador of the Maldives on a tour inside the corridors of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, where he briefed him on a number of specialized departments and permanent exhibitions, and the most prominent initiatives and research projects implemented in the fields of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage and documenting oral narrative.