In the presence of Archbishop Mar Felix Saeed Al-Shabi, Pastor of the Chaldean Diocese of Zakho, priests, and nuns, the activities of the fifth and final day of the Syriac Cultural Week 2022 were concluded at the hall of the Archdiocese of Zakho on Monday, December 12, 2022. Noteworthy, the event was organized by the General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts in the Kurdistan Region.
The activities began with the opening of an exhibition of handicrafts and plastic art of the creative sons and daughters of our people, as well as an exhibition of books published by the General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts within its “Syriac Culture” series. After a choreography presented by the Barmaya Troupe, Kaldo Ramzi Oghanna, Director-General of Syriac Culture and Arts, delivered a speech in which he praised Zakho and its distinguished figures who provided great services to the Syriac culture. Perhaps, the most prominent of whom was Mar Raphael I Bidawid, the former Chaldean patriarch who worked on developing and enriching the Arabic-Syriac dictionary developed by Mar Ojeen Manna. Additionally, he praised Younan Hozaya and his role in developing and consolidating Syriac education and issuing the Bahra Dictionary. Then, the scholar Albert Abuna, a writer, researcher, and historian, as well as His Beatitude and Eminence Cardinal Mar Louis Sako, the Chaldean Patriarch. The Director-General stated that the directorate’s doors are always open to everyone and we are ready to work with everyone, and today we are here to say that we are connected through culture. We need love, not hate. We need a dialogue of love that starts from culture. Our directorate is not for a particular city or group, but we work and organize our activities in all the cities of the Kurdistan Region, and the villages and towns of the Nineveh Plain as well, if we can. In conclusion, he thanked the Diocese of Zakho for its contribution to the success of this cultural week and presented an honorary shield in the name of the Directorate to Mar Felix Al-Shabi.
Then the pastor of the Chaldean Diocese of Zakho delivered a speech on the occasion, in which he expressed his happiness and welcome to hold this cultural event in Zakho, pointing to the city’s lack of cultural centers and activities and wishing that the General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts would open a sub-division in Zakho. As a result, the communication and events would continue in Zakho, the ancient that gave birth to statures in culture and the church.
Later, a group of poets recited their poems, namely: Abdullah Nuri, Noel Gemayel, Bashar Baghdidi, and David Hazem, while Abd al-Masih Badr read one of his stories. This was followed by a musical segment on the oud instrument accompanied by singing, presented by the artist Anas Kaskos, and choreography by the Barmaya band. In addition to this, the artist Youssef Aziz presented lyrical segments with which the audience interacted. The work of the fifth and last day of the Syriac Cultural Week concluded with a short film on “The Spread of Christianity”.
It is noteworthy that the brilliant journalist, Eva Habib, presented the activities of the five days of the Syriac Cultural Week 2022.
Notably, the Syriac Cultural Week 2022 continued its activities for the period from December 8-12, 2022, moving from Nohadra – Dohuk to Alqosh and Telskuf in the Nineveh Plains, where it concluded its work in Zakho. The program of the event included a variety of cultural activities, art exhibitions, and dialogue sessions in which a group of creative men and women from among our people participated.
