Culture & Education | Sunday 24 March, 2019 4:03 am |

Director General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Audrey Azoulay has honored the Saudi poet Prince Badr bin Abdul Mohsin for his contributions in the past 40 years.

The event took place on the occasion of the World Poetry Day at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.

Among the attendees were the Saudi Culture Minister, Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, the Kingdom’s Ambassador to France, Khalid Al-Angari, and the president of Misk Initiatives Center, Badr Al-Asaker.

On the sidelines of the event, Abdul Mohsin recited 12 of his poems.

There was also an art exhibit displaying 36 of his paintings.

UNESCO first adopted March 21 as World Poetry Day during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999, with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard. 

UNESCO says that World Poetry Day is the occasion to honor poets, revive oral traditions of poetry recitals, promote the reading, writing and teaching of poetry, foster the convergence between poetry and other arts such as theater, dance, music and painting, and raise the visibility of poetry in the media. 

"Every form of poetry is unique, but each reflects the universal of the human experience, the aspiration for creativity that crosses all boundaries and borders of time, as well as space in the constant affirmation of humanity as a single family. That’s the power of poetry!" Azoulay said on the occasion.