Resigned Minister of Culture
By NY Staff
The decline of the cultural events in Sana’a and other provinces after Houthis’ control in 21st of last September is very clear. Recently, the Ministry Culture of issued a formal statistic about the movement of cultural events during the last year, emphasizing this decline, especially in conflict areas like Amran and Marib.
According to the statistic, the Ministry of Culture held 159 cultural events during the last year, noting that Taiz, which is chosen a cultural capital for Yemen in 2014, came in third place with seven events, Ibb city in second place with 51 events, and Sana’a in first place with 51 events.
The statistic revealed a sharp decline in the overall cultural activities in the past year by 60%, with a decline in intellectual property rights by 90%, and a decline in the Culture House activities in the capital Sana’a by 40%.
The Director of Statistics at the Ministry of Culture, Muhammad Ali Thamer, confirmed the seriousness of this decline in the activities of the Culture House because it’s the official source of cultural work in Yemen. “Unfortunately, the decline is still ongoing, and will give this year more frustrating results, especially with the worsening political events which lead to create a reality free of culture,” Thamer said.
The Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Hisham Ali, explained that cultural work at the moment is suffering from a large stumble, one belonging to a chronic problem faced by the Ministry of Culture’s small budget and the other part is due to a systematic policy to exclude culture as an official concern.
“Many of the cultural events are refused by official bodies and donors, considering them not a priority as well as 16 cultural centers established by Ministry of Culture in many provinces used as halls for political meetings for years,” Ali said.
