Within the activities of the Amman International Book Fair 2026, a seminar was held last Thursday, titled "From Festival to Project: Cultural Events and Sustainable Impact", to transform cultural activities and festivals from transient events that end with their days into continuous projects that leave a tangible impact on thought and society.
The seminar was attended by Eye Haifa Al-Najjar, Professor of Arabic Language and Literature and academic critic Dr. Khaled Abdel-Raouf Al-Jabri, cultural affairs researcher Samer Khair, and was moderated by the Director of Karak Culture, Orouba Al-Shama'ila.
Eye Haifa Al-Najjar said that the Amman International Book Fair reflects the cultural level and knowledge production of the nation, which requires going beyond the superficial interest in buying books and being impressed by the number of publishing houses to open a transparent discussion that determines whether the exhibition is just a market and bazaar or an incubator for ideas and a starting point for them.
She explained that sustainable work begins on the "next day" after the end of the exhibition through launching school and university reading programs throughout the year, providing translation grants, supporting emerging publishers, and building knowledge alliances between participating publishing houses.
Eye Al-Najjar called for integrating cultural events into the heart of the creative and digital economy and artificial intelligence technologies, and to stop repeating events without impact, emphasizing the importance of partnership between the ministries of culture, education, entrepreneurial economy, and youth.
She pointed to the need to involve the younger generation, protect the Arabic language, and increase the Arabic knowledge content on the Internet, which currently does not exceed three percent, to make culture a guardian of the ethical compass of development.
For his part, Dr. Al-Jabri emphasized the intellectual and planning dimension of the transition to the cultural project, pointing out that the shift of societies towards "neoliberalism" has entrenched individualism, while cultural projects require temporal planning and networking integration similar to five-year and ten-year development plans.
He explained that culture and the arts form a "superficial structure" in their compositional concept, in contrast to the deep economic, social, and political structures, stressing that top-down decisions do not bring about societal change unless the change passes through a planned cultural act that affects the deep layers of society.
Dr. Al-Jabri explained that the use of the term "superficial structure" came in the structural linguistic sense, opposite to the deep structure and does not mean shallowness.
Dr. Al-Jabri warned against narcissistic individualities that hinder collective work, calling for the predominance of a conscious critical mentality instead of practicing "criticism", stressing that partnership requires self-initiative from institutions and universities to participate in cultural projects, including this exhibition, instead of waiting for official invitations.
He also urged the shift from consumption and multitude to the concept of "al-kawthar" (abundance), so that one cultural event generates a sequential interaction that gives rise to other projects, such as turning folk tales into blogs, studies, and dramatic works, while adhering to the "culture of al-fasila" based on cumulative planting extended over generations instead of exaggerating achievements.
In turn, writer Samer Khair addressed the quality of cultural planning and its four roles, namely the educational role, supporting intellectuals, the entertainment role, and the developmental role.
He criticized the focus of institutions on arbitrary "support for intellectuals" policies that lack planning, mix "the chaff with the wheat", and sometimes turn into favoritism, calling for turning the intellectual into a real "partner" that aligns with quality standards.
Researcher Khair emphasized that strategic cultural development targets the development of civil and community values such as respect for others, public spaces, and property, proposing to rename the "Ministry of Culture" to the "Ministry of Cultural Development" to contribute effectively to comprehensive development.
He stressed the need to establish scientific statistical indicators to measure the impact of cultural events on society before and after their holding periodically, citing the experience of the "Cultural Development Index in Arab Cities" issued in 2018.
Karak Culture Director Al-Shama'ila had started the seminar with a fundamental question about what remains of the event in people's lives and what is transformed from it into knowledge, skill, initiative, or a memory that can be built upon, pointing out that the goal is to look at culture as a cumulative act that builds the human and society instead of limiting it to the manufacture of transient events only.
