07 June 2020
Bahrain Culture Authority Launches “Culture in Bahrain in Three Decades”: A Bahraini Cultural Survey between 1961-1991
Bahrain Culture Authority launched, on 7 May 2020, the first edition of “Culture in Bahrain in Three Decades", published in 1993, which is a comprehensive cultural survey of the Kingdom of Bahrain between 1961 and 1991, prepared and edited by the late PhD, Mohammad Youssef Najm, Professor of Arab Literature at the American University of Beirut, in cooperation with a selection of greatest Bahraini intellectuals and culture figures of that era.
For those who would like to browse the electronic version of this book, please visit our official website at www.culture.gov.bh
The book is considered a pioneering first cultural survey made in Bahrain, the result of accumulative successive cultural achievements for three decades, covering various aspects of its cultural mobility, characteristics, flags, transformations and elements of its development during the time period mentioned. The book opens the door for discovering the conditions leading to the emergence of the modern cultural action, its official and non-official institutions and its manifestations. The 10 sections of the book start with an introduction to Bahrain’s cultural characteristics, its civilizational history and the aspects of its modern history, followed by another section exploring the cultural laws and regulations and the cultural institutions.
The 3rd Chapter of the book enables the reader to get acquainted with printing and publication industry in Bahrain, as well as the birth and emergence of libraries in the kingdom, while the 4th section deals with the Bahraini literary creativity in story-telling, proverbs, poetry and details of literary movement during the three decades. The 5th section is dedicated to artistic creativity in Bahrain, namely in singing performance, music, popular arts, theater, cinema and fine plastic arts.
The 6th chapter of the book introduces the reader to the development of information and media in Bahrain, starting with journalism, then Radio and TV, while the 7th and 8th chapters shed lights on child culture and education’s relationship with cultural development. The 9th & 10th chapters enable the reader to discover sports in Bahrain and the role and relationship with culture, presenting a selection of late culture prominent figures who have contributed to the emergence of rich diversified cultural movement in Bahrain.
In addition, Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities is currently working on the preparation of an updated version of cultural survey in the Kingdom of Bahrain during the last three decades since 1991, given that this project represents a good opportunity to shed lights on the latest developments in the cultural scene. The new survey will encompass new chapters and sections, such as “Investing in Culture”, the new cultural seasons held annually in Bahrain during the past years. The survey will be conducted by a selection of prominent culture figures and intellectuals coming from different culture and art backgrounds and field specialties.
