Mohammed Bin Hammad Al Kaabi, one of the UAE’s leading poets, gave a resounding poetry recital to a packed Hassan II Centre at the Traditional Emirati Poetry Evening in Assilah Saturday.

Organised by the Poetry Academy, the Poet of the Million and the Prince of Poets Festival, the event highlighted the appeal of Emirati poetry across the Arab world and showed ADACH’s commitment to this art form.

Hammad Al Kaabi expressed his delight at representing the UAE on the world stage. “It is a big honour to represent your country at an international event such as this, one that helps to strengthen the relationship between the UAE and Morocco”, he said.

The audience clapped and cheered at Hammad Al Kaabi’s powerful performance and his poems dealt with universal themes such as the love for one’s country, loss, hope and passion. The poet also expressed his gratitude to ADACH for the opportunity to perform.

“ADACH is playing an active role in supporting poetry and poets all over the Arab world, particularly through its successful TV poetry competition, which has given poetry a big boost,” he said.

ADACH’s commitment to poetry is deep and wide-ranging and includes the Poetry Academy, which is one of ADACH's largest projects. The Academy plays a key role in investigating and documenting Arabic poetry as well as rehabilitating it as a modern literary genre.

The Academy is headed by Professor Sultan Al Amimi and aims to create an innovative cultural role for Arabic poetry by holding seminars, conducting research and hosting conferences and roundtable discussions. The ultimate mission of the Academy is to enhance communication and interaction between researchers and professionals.

Another ADACH initiative is The Poet of the Million, a festival of poetry whose vision is to extend the appreciation of the Nabati poetic heritage of the Arab region to millions through TV and the Internet. It is one of the most successful cultural media projects in the Middle East, with millions of viewers tuning in each week to watch.

Another project that focuses on classical Arabic poetry is the Prince of Poets Festival. This festival is aimed at promoting and enhancing classical Arabic poetry, reviving the positive role of Arabic poetry as a medium of expression, and discovering young talent and giving them the chance to develop and grow.

ADACH has held several workshops and art exhibitions, lectures and seminars on topics such as the book industry and publishing, cultural diplomacy, art and music. The festival runs from July 10th to July 27th.

ADACH, along with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development and Masdar are representing the UAE officially at the Assilah Festival as a guest of honour this year.