Sharjah24: Bodour Al Qasimi, President of the International Publishers Association (IPA), met on Friday at the House of Wisdom (HoW), Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, the Governor General of Canada; her spouse, His Excellency Whit Grant Fraser; and HE Marcy Grossman, Ambassador of Canada to the UAE; in the presence of HE Fahad Saeed Al Raqbani, UAE Ambassador to Canada; Ahmed Obaid Al Qaseer, Acting CEO of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (SHUROOQ) and Marwa Al Aqroubi, Director, House of Wisdom.

Bodour Al Qasimi welcomed Mary Simon who is visiting the UAE for the first time, and took a tour of the iconic cultural centre, during which they discussed a wide range of topics on the cultural and publishing sectors. They also explored cooperation opportunities to advance the output of cultural institutions in both countries.

The Governor General was briefed by Al Aqroubi on HoW’s features and services and visited ‘Chapters of Islamic Art: Ettinghausen’s Private Collection of Rare Books’ exhibition. They also toured HoW’s massive library that is home to 407,500 books in different languages, braille, and digital books.

The visiting VIPs viewed the visually striking Scroll – a 36 metre monument that represents the lasting power of the written word and is a tribute to Sharjah’s efforts in highlighting the important role of books and reading.

Bodour Al Qasimi attended a storytelling session organised by the House of Wisdom, where HE Mary Simon engaged children in a riveting storytelling session of Fishing with Grandma, which is a charming tale of a grandmother who takes her two grandchildren out for a trip to the lake in the North Pole where they learn the skills, culture and traditions of the region, which is the home of the Governor General of Canada, who is the first indigenous person to hold this position.  

Concluding the visit, the Canadian delegation presented House of Wisdom with 30 titles on varied topics to enrich HoW’s library and enable visitors to expand their knowledge of Canadian culture and authors.