Five-Day Journey Culminates in a New Chapter for Friendship: Sharjah International Narrator Forum 26 Concludes “Tales of Friends”, Turning Friendship into a Bridge Connecting Peoples and Cultures
The Sharjah International Narrator Forum (SINF), in its 26th edition, concluded today following a five-day cultural journey, held from 23rd to 27th September, celebrating storytelling, friendship and memory. The event brought together narrators, researchers and creatives from around the world in Sharjah, highlighting the power of heritage to build bridges of communication among peoples and cultures.
Themed “Tales of Friends”, the forum transformed its theme into a living experience through a diverse programme of scientific and dialogue sessions, workshops, publications, exhibitions, and cultural and artistic activities, with the participation of more than 120 narrators from 30 countries.
The closing ceremony was attended by His Excellency Dr. Abdulaziz Al Musallam, Chairman of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage (SIH) and Chairman of the Forum’s Supreme Organising Committee; His Excellency Abu Bakr Al Kindi, Director of SIH; and Aisha Rashid Al Hassani Al Shamsi, General Coordinator of the Forum, alongside a number of narrators, researchers, participants, partners, sponsors, media representatives and honourees.
Al Musallam: An Exceptional Edition in Concept and Theme
Dr. Abdulaziz Al Musallam said that the 26th edition represented an exceptional edition in both concept and theme, successfully highlighting its central theme by drawing on stories of friendship and incorporating them across its programmes, activities, publications and workshops.
He noted that the edition provided an important opportunity to celebrate, with Sharjah and the Narrator’s friends, more than a quarter of a century of friendship. Over the course of its journey, the forum has built friendships extending across borders and continents, bringing peoples and cultures together in Sharjah.
Friendship: A Deep-rooted Value in Heritage
Dr. Al Musallam explained that friendship is as old as humanity itself, having been explored by writers, poets, philosophers and scholars as a profound human bond. He noted that Arab heritage has not regarded friendship as a passing relationship, but rather as a bond founded on virtue, loyalty, chivalry, and good companionship.
He added that the Narrator Forum presented, throughout this edition, a vivid portrayal of friendship and the friend, while its scientific programme and accompanying publications explored its dimensions, significance and place in Arab heritage.
Friendship, he said, was not merely a social relationship, but an ethical and cultural value associated with honesty, loyalty and the wisdom of choosing a friend.
The accompanying exhibition also celebrated friendship in Emirati, Arab and human heritage, while the spirit of friendship extended across the various sections of the forum, becoming a unifying theme for its programmes, activities and international participation.
Recommendations Pave the Way for a New Phase
The closing ceremony featured the presentation of the forum’s final recommendations and outcomes by Aisha Rashid Al Hassani Al Shamsi, General Coordinator of the Forum. The recommendations reflected the outcomes of the scientific and cultural sessions and discussions held throughout the edition.
The recommendations called for expanding research and documentation to cover women’s narratives in their various forms, preserving the authenticity of oral traditions and their diverse versions, and establishing an Arab scientific reference for oral storytelling, drawing on Sharjah’s more than 26-year experience in this field.
They also recommended publishing the participating research papers in a unified reference book bearing the forum’s title, while encouraging comparative studies on oral traditions, folk narratives and cultural memory across different civilisations.
“Friendship Map” Documents the Memory of Places
The recommendations included a proposal to launch the “Friendship Map in Heritage”, aimed at documenting stories of friendship among poets, pioneers, craftsmen, scholars and popular figures, while linking each story to the place where it originated.
They also proposed the “Companions of the Journey” project to document stories of companionship associated with caravans, sea voyages, pilgrimage journeys, journeys in pursuit of knowledge and travel.
The recommendations further called for establishing a digital archive for “Tales of Friends”, bringing together examples of oral and written narratives from participating countries and documenting narrators and their cultural contexts.
Another proposed initiative, “Memory of Friends”, seeks to preserve stories, memories and oral biographies associated with friendships that have never been documented.
From Storytelling to Cinema, Books and Podcasts
The recommendations also called for transforming selected documented stories into contemporary cultural products, including films, animation, podcasts, games and illustrated books, while preserving their contexts and sources.
They underscored the importance of incorporating storytelling into educational and cultural programmes, transforming research outcomes into storytelling workshops for young people, and encouraging Arab children’s authors to produce stories inspired by folk heritage and presenting the concept of genuine friendship to new generations.
The recommendations further called for supporting community and youth initiatives that promote cooperation, loyalty, chivalry and solidarity, as well as collecting and documenting stories associated with friendship and social values and classifying them according to values such as loyalty, trust, support and solidarity.
Honouring Partners and Organising Teams
At the conclusion of the forum, institutions, organisations and partners who contributed to the success of the 26th edition were honoured in recognition of their support for its programmes and activities and their contribution to strengthening its cultural presence.
The departments and teams of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage were also honoured in recognition of their efforts in preparing, organising and implementing the forum’s programmes and activities.
“Long Live Friendship”
With the conclusion of its 26th edition, the Narrator Forum continues its journey as a global platform where stories meet, memories converge, and oral narratives become bridges of knowledge and communication between people and their heritage, and among peoples and cultures.
As Dr. Abdulaziz Al Musallam emphasised in his closing remarks, the Sharjah Narrator will remain a beacon illuminating the paths of narrators and bearers of popular heritage around the world, while opening new avenues of knowledge for researchers and scholars. It carries a message renewed with every edition, centred on friendship and dedicated to preserving stories and safeguarding memory.
Thus, the Narrator 26 edition comes to a close, but its stories continue to live on. Between a memory shared, a friendship forged and a story that crossed borders, the bridges built by Sharjah extend towards the next edition, keeping the story alive and the friends looking forward to a new rendezvous with the Narrator.