Music and visual artistry in the specially built concert bowl at the 2024 Sharjah Animation Conference, with members of the Florence Pops Orchestra onstage. Image: SBA
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Also see:
Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival, Again ‘Animated’
Sharjah’s Third Booksellers Conference: ‘Acumen and Dynamism’
PublisHer Signs Visa as Sponsor of Its New Lounge at Sharjah’s Conference
Sharjah’s Booksellers Conference: ‘Ecosystem Stakeholders’
Sharjah Booksellers Conference Releases Its 2024 Agenda
At Sharjah’s Booksellers Conference: The ‘PublisHer Lounge’
Sharjah Book Authority: Bodour Al Qasimi’s First Year as Chair
Emirates Publishers Association Issues 10-Million-Dirham Sustainability Fund
Ranieri: ‘Into the Hearts of the Audience’
As the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival continues its 2024 run (through May 12), there’s been some supportive news, relative to the issue called to our readers’ attention in regards to the Sharjah Animation Conference, which ran through Sunday (May 5) as part of the festival.
As that multifaceted animation conference came to its conclusion Sunday—a cooperative effort with artistic director Pietro Pinetti’s Bergamo Animation Days (May 10 to 12)—news came across from the Sharjah Book Authority that more than 8,000 “aspiring professionals and animation legends” had in one way or another taken part in the Animation Conference’s five-day run. In part of the Book Authority’s media messaging, the attendees are referred to not only as “aspiring professionals” but also as “animation enthusiasts” and “industry experts,” the latter group of course being among the roughly 30 animation-industry speakers programmed into the conference, most from the Italian animation industry.
The animation program was structured in orchestral concerts of soundtracks from the Florence Pops Orchestra; 11 workshops; masterclasses; and 18 panel discussions. Standing as it does as an instructive and professionally based program for those “aspiring” industry players—even if some of them are young—this does appear, as observation indicates, to be a program that might be capable of standing on its own, under the production savvy of Book Authority chairperson Bodour Al Qasimi and CEO Ahmed Al Ameri, with the directorial skills of Mansour Al Hassani and Khoula Al Mujaini and the programming and logistical chops, respectively, of Emma House and Tony Mulliken.
The greatest value enhancement for this now two-year-old Animation Conference, in other words, may be to get some daylight between it and the Children’s Reading Festival, so that the Animation Conference can reach the most appropriate audience in the Arab region for such events as Disney animator Nik Ranieri’s reportedly sold-out workshop. Ranieri’s work, as the program acknowledged the 30th anniversary of Disney’s The Lion King, is behind character designs including Hades in Hercules; Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast; and the title character in Wreck-It Ralph.
Staging a workshop called Creation of Classic Characters, Ranieri discussed his own entry into the animation business, his understanding of something sounding a lot like Michelangelo’s concept of the figure waiting to be revealed in the marble: “Creating characters is like giving life to a blank canvas,” Ranieri said. “It’s about infusing them with personality and quirks that make them leap off the screen and into the hearts of the audience. Every character has a story to tell, and it’s our job as animators to bring that story to life through their movements and expressions.”
Ranieri went on to talk attendees through the improvements and enhancements brought by digital technology to the animator’s craft and artistry and took questions from his listeners who, organizers say, quickly formed a sense of community in the chance to hear from an acknowledged practitioner in the field.
And this is an example of the potential independent positioning and reach of the Animation Conference, as well as of its distinction from the Children’s Reading Festival, which is, of course, a long-proven book fair for young readers and families and a pivotal annual bookselling event for so many in the Middle Eastern and North African publishing industry led by Sharjah.
Disney animator Nick Ranieri talks with a workshop audience about his craft, concepts, and technical prowess in a workshop at the 2024 Sharjah Animation Conference. Image: SBA
In addition to its programming, the Animation Conference in its expanded, multifaceted setting this year, included a two-category awards program, with a “Pitch the Project” prize and a “Book Trailer Award” for participants.
The Pitch the Project Award is intended to recognize Middle Eastern animation. This was won by Boubaker Boukhari, who won a 9,000-dirham purse (US$2,450), as well as a Wacom drawing tablet, and a professional animation software license for Toon Boom’s Harmony software.
The Book Trailer Award is aimed at marketing, of course, and based on Emirati author Dubai Abulhoul’s Kharareef series from Kalimat Publishing Group’s series. In this case, Budoor Almahri was the winner of that one, again for a 9,000-dirham purse, the Wacom drawing tablet, and Harmony software.
Runners-up in these competitions were given cash awards of 5,000 dirhams (US$1,300) and 3,000 dirhams (US$816).
Disney director Andreas Deja was on-hand to commemorate the anniversary of The Lion King and show a short animated film of his own, Mushka,
‘Pitch the Project’ award winner Boubaker Boukhari, center, at the Sharjah Animation Conference with Book Authority CEO Ahmed Al Ameri, right, at the close of the Animation Conference. Image: SBA
Sheikh Sultan’s Annual Grant to SCRF Publishers, Booksellers
Once more, Sharjah’s author-ruler, Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, has issued his annual grant for publishers at the Sharjah Children’s Book Festival, allocating 2.5 million dirhams (US$680,642) to buy books from publishers and booksellers at the fair. The books bought from participating exhibitors are used to expand the collection of the Sharjah Public Library.
Sharjah’s Sheikh Sultan
In characterizing her father’s grant, the Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi said that this contribution from Sheikh Sultan “underlines Sharjah’s belief that the realization of both our present and future goals are dependent on how successfully we are able to foster an appreciation of books, knowledge and learning in our younger generations. The roots of development and our envisioned cultural growth are firmly secured in our libraries.”
Encapsulating Sheikh Sultan’s concept for the emirate, she said, “Ensuring that ample sources of learning and intellectual development are easily accessible to all, particularly our children, is fundamental to Sharjah’s developmental vision. Consequently, the emirate launches programs and pours effort into making books available to everyone. These books form the foundation of our dialogues across cultures and civilizations. Year after year, we witness the tangible outcomes of these initiatives in Sharjah—through our developmental projects, a well-informed community, a robust cultural fabric, enduring values, and our ongoing call for everyone to join us in shaping a vibrant present and forging a promising future.”
Sharjah Book Authority Board Developments
The Sharjah Book Authority board meets at Sharjah Publishing City during the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival. Identifiable in this image are chairperson Bodour Al Qasimi at the head of the table, Book Authority CEO Ahmed Al Ameri to Al Qasimi’s right, our left, and Book Authority board member Markus Dohle to Al Qasimi’s left, our right. Image: Nabs Ahmedi
And as it would happen, Bodour Al Qasimi’s meeting with her Book Authority board at Sharjah Publishing City during the early days of the Children’s Reading Festival reflected the expanding programming of the emirate–and Sheikh Sultan’s support–as she announced a strategy for the Book Authority structured into a trio of pillars:
- Growth and Expansion
- Strategic Partnership and Diversification
- Innovation and Empowerment
This was the second major meeting of the board under Al Qasimi’s work as the Book Authority’s chair, and she said, “Following our initial meeting, I reviewed the proposed initiatives, and it’s now clear that we are moving in the right direction to ensure the SBA’s growth, expansion, and sustainability. With all the changes taking place in the world, and in the international publishing ecosystem, I believe we have an unprecedented opportunity to further cement Sharjah’s role as a nexus for publishing and book industry development, benefiting all our partners.”
During the board’s meeting, Al Ameri, in his capacity of the Book Authority CEO, pointed out that in Al Qasimi’s move into the chair, “our vision has expanded, and our ambitions have grown to strengthen Sharjah’s status on the global publishing and cultural capitals maps. Moreover, we’ve witnessed the profoundly positive impact of the strategy the SBA board implemented last year, locally and globally.”
From left: John Ingram, Youngsuk ‘YS’ Chi, Markus Dohle, Gaurav Shrinagesh
The board, led by Al Qasimi, last year added members including John Ingram of Ingram Content Group; Youngsuk ‘YS’ Chi, chairman of Elsevier; Markus Dohle, executive vice-president of the PEN America and Indigo boards; and Gaurav Shrinagesh, CEO of the India and South East Asia divisions of Penguin Random House. This month, further additions have included Sultan Al Ameemi, chair of the Emirates Writers Union; Majd Al Shehhi, director of the Emirates Reprographic Rights Association (ERRA); and Fahad Al Mamari, chairman of the board of the Emirates Library.
Al Qasimi has said that she sees the board’s expansion as a strategic step toward “consolidating the Book Authority’s efforts to integrate cross-sector expertise and thought leadership of distinguished voices in the field. She’s creating working groups to advise the Book Authority on its progress in the three new “pillars” of interest, saying, “We view these working groups as mini think tanks to guide SBA progress and to shape our collective vision into tangible, actionable strategies.”
Media messaging indicates that the board made a special effort to register its support of Al Qasimi’s plans and direction.
More from Publishing Perspectives about the Sharjah Booksellers Conference is here, more on the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival is here, more on the Sharjah Animation Conference is here, and more on Sharjah and its market is here.