Media Center

H.E Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, received in her office on 24 February 2022, the Japanese Ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Miyamoto Masayuki, who was accompanied by Dr. Akinori Uesugi, a specialist in ancient civilizations from Kanazawa University in Japan, where they discussed strengthening cultural cooperation between the two brotherly countries.

The meeting shed light on the excellent results of the Japanese mission’s excavations in the Kingdom of Bahrain, in cooperation with the Culture Authority, which began in 2015 in Wadi Al-Sail and the development of its work and results in 2020 using modern scientific technology in surveying and excavating Dilmun sites in the Kingdom. The two parties also stressed the importance of training Bahraini cadres to be qualified for the excavation work and processes, in addition to the importance of cooperation with the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage in Manama, which promotes and preserves the Tangible Heritage of Arab countries.

Moreover, H.E also briefed the Ambassador on the new cultural movement, especially the new cultural infrastructure and the Spring of Culture Festival, which started on 25 February 2022 with the performance of "Akhenaten… Dust of Light" coming from the Arab Republic of Egypt. H.E also express hopes that the ambitious project will see the light and will be implemented by building the permanent headquarters of the Arab Regional Center for World Heritage near Saar settlement and which was designed by the world-famous Japanese architect Tadao Ando.

For his part, the Japanese ambassador thanked H.E. Shaikha for the wonderful efforts deployed by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities, welcoming the fruitful cooperation in the field of excavations. The Japanese ambassador also voiced his constant readiness to cooperate in order to jointly contribute to the advancement of the cultural movement in Bahrain.