Arab artists call for support as drama industry facing decline

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Govts urged to invest in influential cultural platform

AMMAN, Sept 30: Arab artists, on Tuesday, stressed the importance of providing official support for the Arab drama industry, as it is an influential cultural platform in society amid the rapid development and new changes that life is witnessing. This came in a symposium entitled “The Horizons of New Arab Drama”, in which Kuwaiti artists Daoud Hussein, Lebanese Takla Shamoun, Jordanian Zuhair Al-Nubani and Nadera Omran participated in the cultural program of the 35th Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts. The artists agreed that Arab drama is facing a decline in the general level for many reasons, the most important of which is the absence of official support, the absence of some creative elements for production, and the imposition of some private parties’ commercial desires at the expense of content. In this context, Kuwaiti artist Daoud Hussein stressed the need to provide the Arab drama industry with the necessary capabilities and appropriate funding to advance it and make its impact “positive” on the upbringing of society and directing the awareness of its members according to the customs, traditions and culture of the Arab community.

Hussein called for the importance of creating artistic and dramatic content that simulates the reality of societies that have been greatly affected by knowledge and technological development, pointing out that the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the extent of the decline in the attractiveness of Arab drama against the tendency of Arab viewers to follow Western and Eastern drama on digital platforms. Regarding the restrictions facing Arab artistic creativity, he pointed out that censorship imposed by some government agencies in some countries “may restrict artistic creativity,” explaining that the “mature” artist should be free and responsible for what he presents within the limits of self-censorship. For her part, Lebanese actress Takla Chamoun said that the development of the drama industry in the Arab world needs “supporting capital”, calling on Arab governments to invest in this industry and to confront what she considered “penetration” of Western and Eastern drama to the minds of members of the Arab community. Chamoun saw that there is an obstacle facing Arab drama, which is represented in the “absence of content with an Arabic flavor,” referring at the same time to the need for drama in the region to develop its tools such as language and discourse to attract viewers, especially young people. She expected that the Arab drama industry will move in the near future towards co-production to confront digital broadcasting platforms, expressing the hope that Arab drama will one day be able to inform the world about the true reality of Arab civilization.

For his part, Jordanian artist Zuhair Al-Nubani saw that Arab art, specifically Arab drama, is witnessing a “great decline”, noting that the Arab region has potential and promising illuminations, “but the absence of planning and mismanagement” affected its development and even contributed to its decline. While the Jordanian artist Nadera Omran spoke about the fact that some private satellite channels that produce dramas imposed their conditions and dictates on the work, which “emptied its artistic value” and dissolved the beautiful characteristics of the Arab man. Omran attributed the absence of Jordanian drama from the Arab scene to the scarcity of distinguished writers and texts, as well as the absence of official sponsorship, indicating the need for art to be given the necessary attention by the state, considering it a “cultural and civilized frontage” for the country. The Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts, which was absent last year due to the pandemic, will conclude its cultural and artistic activities next Sunday(KUNA)

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