The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation will be hosting a webinar on “Salem Al Jamri: The Diving-Trip Chanter of Emirati Folk Poetry” via its online platform. The event will take place at 9:30 pm UAE time on Monday, April 19th, 2021.
The webinar, which will be moderated by poet Sheikha Al Mutairi, will feature researcher and poet Mu’ayad Al Shaibani and poet Mahmoud Nour. The event coincides with the launch of Salem Al Jamri: Nahham Al Qaseeda Al Sha’biya Al Imaratiyya (Salem Al Jamri: The Diving-Trip Chanter of Emirati Folk Poetry), a book by Mu’ayad Al Shaibani. The publication is part of the “Notable Figures from the UAE” book series, launched by the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation in 2012, which aims at documenting and shedding light on the lives and works of icons in the fields of literature, art and thought who have left an indelible mark on public life and on the cultural and artistic scenes.
Salem Al Jamri was born in 1910 and died in 1991. His poetic experience was characterized by popularity and by a strong presence in various media as well as in poetry evenings and songs. Al Jamri’s poetry went through a number of phases; his early poetry was influenced by veteran poets in the UAE and the Gulf in general, before he became acquainted with retired artist Ali Bin Rogha who sang more than 100 poems by Al Jamri. His latter poetry is characterized by wisdom, which is reflected in his rich and expressive poems of experience that express seven decades of Al Jamri’s poetic journey.
It is worth mentioning that since its launch in 2012, the “Notable Figures from the UAE” book series has underlined the efforts made by the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation to support the cultural field in the UAE, and its keenness on commemorating the pioneers who have paved the way in the fields of thought, culture and knowledge in the UAE, and who made great contributions that made them beacons of light leading the way for the future and opening horizons for creativity in all forms of literature and culture. This important project aims at bringing these notable figures of the UAE into living memory so that their ambitious and enlightened ideas that overcame all the obstacles and difficult circumstances of their times may inspire and guide the new generations and become a cherished legacy.
