For each Arab country awarded the title of “Capital of Arab Culture”, this event is an opportunity to organize various events, including translation, prize-awarding, book fairs, plastic arts and crafts exhibitions, art workshops, theater and film shows, festivals, competitions and cultural weeks. It is also an opportunity to exchange artistic groups, create new cultural institutions and upgrade the performance of existing ones, foster creativity, support creators and people of culture, and revitalize the cultural scene.
Since its launch in 1996, the “Capital of Arab Culture” event was hosted by : Cairo (1996), Tunis (1997), Sharjah (1998), Beirut (1999), Riyadh (2000), Kuwait City (2001), Amman (2002), Rabat (2003), Sana'a (2004), Khartoum (2005), Muscat (2006), Algiers (2007), Damascus (2008), Al-Quds (Jerusalem) (2009), Doha (2010), Manama (2012), Baghdad (2013), Constantine (2015), Sfax (2016), Luxor (2017), Oujda (2018), Port Sudan (2019).
Bethlehem (Palestine) has been proclaimed “Capital of Arab Culture” for 2020, Irbid (Jordan) for 2021, Kuwait City (Kuwait) for 2022, and Tripoli (Lebanon) for 2023.
The 21st Conference of Arab Culture Ministers (October 14-15, 2018) recommended that the activities held in celebration of the “Capital of Arab Culture” event be aligned with the principles and objectives of the Arab Decade for the Cultural Right.
