KUWAIT, April 6 (NNN-KUNA) – Kuwait hosted an Iraqi exhibition on Thursday, to strengthen relations between the two countries.
Ala Al-Hashemi, Iraqi ambassador to Kuwait, told Xinhua that the two-day exhibition, entitled “Mesopotamia is a cultural heritage,” was the first Iraqi exhibition since the Gulf War in 1991.
The exhibition was opened in response to the directives of the Kuwait’s Emir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, to support Iraq, the ambassador added.
He said that Kuwait plans to host an Iraqi cultural week, which the Iraqi Ministry of Culture is preparing to organise for the upcoming period.
Al-Hashemi pointed out that cultural events support political relations and contribute to overcoming the past.
“We build bridges between the two peoples and we seek to overcome instead of forgetting the invasion to reach a better stage in relations between the two countries,” he said.
The exhibition shed light on the ancient and modern aspects of civilisation of Mesopotamia through a collection owned by Kuwaiti collector, Hassan Jassim Ashkanani, which included pictures of Iraq taken by Iraqi photographers.
On the sidelines of the exhibition, Ashkanani, professor of archeology and anthropology at Kuwait University, told Xinhua that his participation in the exhibition was part of his cooperation with Kuwait University and the Iraqi Embassy.
Ashkanani collected more than 13,000 photographs of Iraqi sites in recent years during his visits to Iraq.
“Our duty as specialists is to highlight the bright side of our land and our region. This is a message from us that sport, art, literature, and culture are cross-border and can resolve any dispute,” he said.
In mid-Feb, 2018, Kuwait hosted an international conference for the reconstruction of Iraq, after the liberation of its territory from the Daesh. Iraqi President, Barham Salih, made his first visit to Kuwait during his Gulf tour after his election at the end of last year.
Hamed Abel, a Kuwaiti citizen, expressed his enthusiasm to attend the Iraqi art exhibitions in his country.
“We are longing for such exhibitions to turn the page of the past. We are brothers and neighbours and these exhibitions promote the spirit of love and brotherhood between the two peoples,” he said.– NNN-KUNA
