Sharjah: Mr. Kassem Istanbouli, a Lebanese actor-director, and Mr. Hajer Ben Boubaker, a French researcher and sound director, were awarded the 19th UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture at an award ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on June 26, 2023.
The event, organised by the Sharjah Department of Culture in collaboration with UNESCO, celebrated the achievements of two winners.
The UNESCO-Sharjah Prize for Arab Culture recognises recipients’ outstanding artistic achievements, celebrating Arab art and culture globally. Core to UNESCO’s anti-racism and anti-discrimination agenda, the Prize promotes peace and dialogue to foster intercultural understanding and celebrate diversity.
For this 19th edition of the Prize, the international jury recognised Mr. Kassem Istanbouli and Ms. Hajer Ben Boubaker’s extraordinary contributions to promoting the arts and Arab culture and supporting their local communities.
Mr. Istanbouli is involved with several international projects focused on skills enhancement, youth empowerment, and collaborative partnerships.
Ms. Hajer Ben Boubaker is a French-Tunisian independent researcher and sound director. Her research focuses on a socio-historical analysis of Arab music and the cultural history of the Maghreb community in France and around the world.
Created in 1998 and run by UNESCO at the initiative of the United Arab Emirates, the UNESCO-Sharjah Prize awards two laureates per year—iindividuals, groups, or institutions—iin recognition of their contribution to Arab art and culture or for participating in the dissemination of the latter outside the Arab world.