Cross fertilization from one shore of the Mediterranean to the other - UNESCO Conference

Paris, 2 December

A conference, entitled “Intercultural Encounters on the Shores of the Mediterranean, the Alchemy of an Uninterrupted Dialogue,” will take place at UNESCO Headquarters on 4 and 5 December. Its objective is to highlight how the Arab-Islamic and Western worlds have influenced each other over the centuries.

Organized by UNESCO in the framework of the Arabia Plan for the Development of Arab culture, it will begin on 4 December at 10 a.m. Speakers will include Riyad Nassan Agha, the Syrian Minister of Culture; Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri, the Director-General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO); Musa Bin Jaafar Bin Hassan, the Permanent Delegate of the Sultanate of Oman to UNESCO and President of the Consultative Committee of the Arabia Plan, as well as Marcio Barbosa, the Deputy Director-General of UNESCO.

The conference will consist of four sessions, which will deal with issues such as different types of knowledge, the circulation of ideas around the Mediterranean, the history of dialogue in the region, notably in medicine, mathematics and astronomy, without forgetting the contribution of geographers, travellers and translators.

Special stress will be laid on interactions between the North and the South of the Mediterranean, as well as the acquisition by Islamic civilization of Greek, Persian and Indian knowledge. Participants will also examine the spread of knowledge from the Arab-Islamic world to Europe, especially in the fields of science, philosophy, literature and the arts.

• Author(s):Media Advisory N°2008-87
• Source:UNESCOPRESS
• 02-12-2008