The President of the Hashemite Royal Court, Yousef Hassan Al-Aisowei, inaugurated on Sunday evening, at the Salt Development Foundation, the activities of the 12th Arab International Salt Forum for Plastic Arts, organized by the Balqa Association for Plastic Arts in cooperation with the Directorate of Culture of Balqa Governorate, with the participation of 30 Jordanian and Arab plastic artists, and in the presence of the Governor of Balqa, Faisal Al-Masaeid, and a number of official, cultural, artistic and security figures.
The opening ceremony began with the Jordanian Royal Anthem, followed by the inauguration of the plastic art exhibition accompanying the forum, where Al-Aisowei toured its areas and viewed the participating works, which reflected the diversity of experiences, schools and plastic styles, and listened to explanations from the artists about the content of their works and their artistic and cultural dimensions.
The forum coincides with the passage of five years since the inclusion of Salt City on the World Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), highlighting its historical and civilizational status and its architectural and cultural heritage, and enhancing its presence on the cultural and tourist map.
The Director of Culture of Balqa Governorate, Dr. Mona Al-Saoud, said that holding the forum in Salt embodies the value of the city and its rooted cultural narrative in the national memory, noting that plastic art represents a creative language capable of re-presenting the story of the place through color and line, and linking creativity with the cultural heritage.
She emphasized the importance of partnership between official institutions and cultural bodies in supporting the creative movement and preserving the national heritage, pointing out that art forms a bridge for communication between the past, present and future.
The President of the Balqa Association for Plastic Arts, Nadhier Al-Wa'eli, welcomed the forum's sponsor, attendees, and participating artists, stressing the importance of the forum in activating the artistic and cultural movement and introducing Salt City and its cultural heritage.
He explained that the association, which was established in 1995, works to spread plastic arts and enhance its presence through exhibitions, training workshops, competitions, visits, and Arab and international forums, noting that the twelfth session continues the forum's journey in providing a space for communication and exchange of experiences between artists from different schools and artistic directions.
The forum includes artists from Jordan and a number of Arab countries, including Iraq and Egypt, in addition to artists from various governorates of the Kingdom, while the association chose the Jordanian plastic artist Essam Al-Silawy as the figure of the forum in its current session in appreciation of his artistic career and contributions to the Jordanian plastic movement.
The forum program includes visits to the Greater Salt Municipality and tours of the city's tourist path to view its most prominent historical and heritage landmarks, in addition to a specialized art workshop in knife drawing presented by the plastic artist Muhammad Turki, allowing participants to draw inspiration from the elements of the place and its heritage in their artistic experiments.
The forum also witnessed the participation of a number of plastic artists from Al-Zarqa Governorate in cooperation with the Directorate of Culture of Al-Zarqa, in appreciation of its role in supporting the participation of artists and enhancing the plastic presence in cultural events.
At the end of the opening ceremony, the organizers of the forum honored the President of the Hashemite Royal Court, Yousef Hassan Al-Aisowei, in appreciation of his sponsorship of the forum's activities, alongside honoring a number of artists, participants, and official and security figures in appreciation of their efforts and contributions.
The forum embodies a model of integration between official and civil cultural institutions and the role of art in highlighting the national identity and preserving the heritage memory, and enhancing the status of Salt as a space for Arab and international cultural creativity and convergence.
