Kuwait-based Arab plastic artists' union established

The Union of Arab plastic artists was declared in Kuwait Sunday evening with the major aim of unifying the Arab artistic movement. The declaration of the union took place during a ceremony held at Kuwait Arts Association and attended by representatives of Arab arts societies. The Kuwait-based union will be chaired by Abdulrasoul Salman, who also heads Kuwait Arts Association. "This day witnessed the establishment of the union which was born out of our feelings and needs," Salman said in a speech on this occasion. "This is a dream coming true for the sake of unifying the Arab artistic movement ... which reflected the faith in the civilized value of art and underlines the Arabic identity specially of the Arab artists are united," he said. Saleh Khatabi, director of plastic arts department at the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information, underlined the importance of the new union. He hoped the union would encourage the Arab plastic artists to embark on an intellectual, cultural and artistic action that would be an added value to the Arab civilization. Head of the Palestinian union of plastic artists Nabeel Annabi said the union would revive the Arab plastic art. Artists from Sudan, Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco also commended the establishment of the union and said it would put the Arab artists on the map of global art. They agreed that the union would serve the interests of the Arab artists and would highlight the quality of their paintings.