RUW's First International Cultural Festival

10,Feb 2019

Under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, President of Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities.

Royal University for Women in collaboration with the ASEAN Bahrain Council organizes the first International Cultural Festival in RUW campus in Riffa.

Under the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities and in cooperation with the ASEAN Bahrain Council, Royal University for Women held its first International Cultural Festival at the University campus in Riffa. The event was attended by His Excellency Sheikh Daij Bin Issa Al Khalifa, President of ASEAN Bahrain Council and Her Excellency Dr. Sheikha Rana Bint Isa Al Khalifa, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a number of ambassadors and representatives of the international communities in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The ceremony began with a speech by Dr. David Stewart, President of Royal University for Women, during which he expressed the honor of having the patronage of Her Excellency Sheikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa and her presence in the festival celebrating cultures organized by the Royal University for Women University in cooperation with ASEAN Council. He said "The Royal University for Women embraces many different communities and cultures from more than 28 countries around the world. This is reflected in the academic faculty, administration and students, in which it is creating a kind of cultural, open sphere communication and an environment that encourages openness and tolerance among cultures". He added "Today, we celebrate our traditions, languages and history, and the atmosphere that the Kingdom of Bahrain has provided for coexistence and tolerance between cultures and religions. The Kingdom of Bahrain is the best example of the unity of individuals in multiculturalism environment and its showing the best adoption of the meaning of coexistence since the creation of this land and through the many civilizations that have passed on it”.

A speech from His Excellency Sheikh Daij bin Issa Al Khalifa was followed, in which he expressed the pleasure of cooperating with the Royal University for Women as a higher education institute and the participation of multiple embassies, as it plays a significant role by saying “events like this that act as a point of establishing greater things for the period to come. Overall, I would like to emphasize on the fact that today is just a milestone towards paving the path to stronger relationships and opportunities across multiple countries and verticals”. He added that “The ASEAN Bahrain Council has been at the forefront of creating a friendly business climate for investors from the ASEAN regions to invest in Bahrain. We have been doing trade shows across the ASEAN countries and have hosted a few friends from the ASEAN in Bahrain as well”. Sheikh Daij gave a special thanks to Lulu Hyper Market for their support in making this event a success.

Mr. Banna from the Embassy of Thailand expressed that the strength of Kingdom of Bahrain relies on its diversity by saying “the event highlights Bahrain’s strength which is diversity. I have no doubt that a recent survey ranks Bahrain as the second-best place in the world for expatriate workwise, and the fifth-best place life wise. We, the people, may come from different nations, languages, religions, cultures and so on, but we live in Bahrain peacefully and happily”.

The event witnessed huge attendance from the public and enjoyable moments with many popular cultural events in the festival, including traditional dance performances of the Republic of Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, as well as traditional costumes of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Korea, Morocco, Yemen, Egypt and Malaysia, and live cooking of traditional cuisines of ASEAN countries including Malaysia, Philippines and other participating countries.

Organizers of the event from the International club of the Royal University for Women expressed their overwhelming happiness on the success of the event, as Ms. Asma Almelhem, President of the International Club said “we had a vision and an action plan for this day, we worked hard on it as we were aiming to celebrate our diversity here in RUW”. Ms. Houria Zain, Vice President of the International Club also added “I am truly proud to organize this event and celebrate the diversity of Bahrain. I am proud to be part of the cultural diversity in Bahrain and the Royal University for Women, where women excel. Such events help us to become one family despite our different cultural backgrounds”.