Under the gaze of the statues of Scheherazade and Shahrayar in the centre of Baghdad, dozens of Iraqis sprawled in the gardens of historic Abu Nuwas Street, holding books provided for them under an initiative aimed to encourage reading.
They gathered on Saturday (September 29th) to read various books for more than two hours, in a cultural phenomenon described by organisers as a festival called "I am Iraqi, I read".
The idea for the festival was born at the spur of the moment by a group of young people, most of them university students, according to poet and journalist Ahmed Abdul Hussein, one of the event organisers.
The initiative is "based on a previous similar idea that was implemented in Tunisia to promote a culture of reading", he added.
"The idea for this project began more than three months ago," he told Mawtani. "We promoted it through social networking sites Facebook and Twitter and received support from intellectuals, media establishments and personalities concerned with culture.
We also received support from bookshop owners in al-Mutanabbi Street, who provided all kinds of books."
Abdul Hussein said the festival aims to draw the public's attention to books and their role in building and strengthening a human being able to contribute to building the country and partaking in its revival.
Abdul Hussein said the event was "a celebration, as we saw it, because all those in attendance were happy. The atmosphere was suited to and encouraged reading, especially since the event was staged at one of the prettiest gardens in Baghdad, overlooking the Tigris River".
"I see it as an encouraging sign to continue in this effort," he added.
Various other cultural activities were staged as part of this festival, including a photography exhibit, an open-air painting session and musicians that played folkloric music, while participants were offered books on the arts, literature, science, history and politics – as well as children's books -- to read.
'CANDLELIGHT IN THE FACE OF DARKNESS'
Former Iraqi Minister of Culture Mufeed al-Jazaeri described the festival as a "candlelight confronting the face of darkness".
"I salute the youth who adopted this great festival," al-Jazaeri, who attended the festival, told Mawtani. "I was impressed by their enthusiasm, and I should say the organisation was superb."
"[Our] country, society and new generations are in dire need to follow the correct and only path, represented in culture, reading and books," he said.
"It is said that the entire darkness of the world cannot put out the light of a candle, and this is the light of the candle in Iraq," al-Jazaeri said.
"It is what we see today in this large crowd of people, who responded to the invitation their brothers extended -- the brothers who gave this idea life – and who interacted with them by coming here to read a book."
The former minister said he hopes "this festival will grow to reach other Iraqi cities, so that new generations will be attracted to books and reading, and seek more knowledge in all fields, as our country and our society will only progress with knowledge". "Our cultural, scientific, and political awareness must develop, and this can be achieved by way of guiding all generations towards books," he added.
'WE HAVE STARTED AND WILL NOT STOP'
Media personality Saberine Kadhem, who helped organise the festival, said, "We have started and will not stop. There are other goals for project 'I am Iraqi, I read', for we will strive to transfer this experience to Kurdistan and other Iraqi provinces. We will mobilise all efforts to provide the means for it to be transported to all Iraqi cities."
"In addition to collective reading, which is the basic activity of this festival, there will also be a 'cultural café' initiative," she said. "Coffee-shops serve tea, coffee and other drinks, but they do not have libraries; therefore, our next project is a café with a library that provides books for its customers."
"There are other ideas, like placing a book on the rear seats of public buses and reviving public libraries," she said.
Public libraries, which spread throughout Iraq in the sixties and seventies, played a major role in Iraqi cultural life because they made many books available free of charge, which students could use for studying and reading.
However, their role has receded due to the deteriorating security situation in Iraq.
"Our goal is to serve Iraq, because we work and identify with [our country]; we extend our hands and open our hearts to all and say, 'Come join us so we can read and become a conscious people'," Kadhem said.
CIVIC AWARENESS THROUGH BOOKS
Another festival organiser, Ali al-Jaff, said, "We are very happy today. The festival succeeded in sending many messages, the most important of which says that awareness is the basis of society, which we have been calling for in our cultural activities."
With the awareness a book stimulates, people can choose the best individual to successfully perform his or her duty as an elected official, al-Jaff said.
The "I am Iraqi, I read" initiative is a first step on a very long road, he added.
"In the upcoming period, we have a huge project: a mobile library placed inside a truck that roams all the provinces of Iraq," he said.
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