“Cross Culture” Carnival 2021 in Lattakia sheds light on the civilizations of 22 countries

With the aim of providing  an opportunity to introduce the peoples’ civilizations and build bridges of communication between different cultures, the National Museum in Lattakia province  hosted a carnival depicting  the civilizations  of more than 22 countries around the world as part of the “ Cross Culture ” Carnival 2021 .

The two-day cultural event was organized  by the  Junior Chamber International  ( JCI) -Lattakia in cooperation with the Directorates of Culture, Antiquities and Museums in the governorate.

The carnival is of remarkable importance as it is considered to be a  journey of discovery into  the  cultures  of 22 countries including  their traditional  clothes , food and the most  important tourist and cultural sites.

Head of the  “ Cross Culture” Carnival 2021 project Junior Makhoul said in a statement to the Syriatimes e- newspaper  that the carnival highlighted two aspects of the 22 countries’ civilizations including the cultural and artistic ones .

He noted that the carnival included  exhibitions of sculptural works, plastic arts and  a book fair with the participation of  the Ministry of Culture and the Iranian

Cultural Center, referring  to many interactive painting workshops for children, Arabic calligraphy workshops as well as   musical and dance  performances.

In a meeting with some of the representatives of the participating countries  in the carnival, Muhammad Za’arour, head of the Cultural Department of  the

Development Committee at  the Palestinian returnees camp in Lattakia, expressed his happiness to represent his homeland in the carnival by displaying  some of the ancient  Palestinian heritage of traditional costumes, handicrafts  and food .

“Our revolution, our catastrophe and our displacement have all become part of our heritage, and despite that we still  resist  and  still dream of returning  to our homeland and we always strive to introduce our heritage and our history to the world” Za’arour stressed.

Concerning the Russian participation in the carnival, which was attended by some  Russian ladies who came specially to attend this cultural event,  Diana Kandil  expressed  her happiness in representing the Russian civilization through folk costumes and food  in addition to different artworks.

In turn,  the local president  of JCI-Latakia Dalia Suleiman said in a  statement to the Syriatimes e-newspaper  “the carnival  aims to promote the values of peace by introducing the  peoples’ heritage, their civilizational and cultural identity,  and the capabilities of the creative and distinguished  Syrian youth”.

The carnival, according to Suleiman, is part of the world campaign held by the  JCI  under the title “ Believe  in

Syria” to emphasize the importance of this land, which is the cradle of the world’s  first alphabet and musical notes and its ability to bring together  and highlight the richness of civilizations of   different parts of the world .

On his part ,  Muhannad Al-Hmedi ,   vice  president of the JCI- Lattakia  told the Syriatimes    “The project  was launched by  creative youths who  believe in the values of peace and seek enthusiastically to  develop  their community”.

He stressed that  the project has different  goals,but  mainly the focus is on highlighting Syria’s  deep-rooted civilization.

It is noteworthy that the “ Cross Culture”  carnival was launched in its first  session in 2018.

Interviewed by : Rawaa Ghanam

Photos by : Rawaa Ghanam