An Overview of the Foundation
In 1974, the poet Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain launched his cultural initiative when he established the "Kuwaiti Saud Albabtain Scholarship for Postgraduate Studies" with the goal of spreading knowledge, providing aid and assistance to students, and encouraging the talented among them to complete their postgraduate studies up until obtaining a doctorate degree, and this scholarship continues to this day in providing hundreds of scholarships awarded annually to students in Kuwait and some developing countries.
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In 1989, the dream of Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain to establish a cultural and literary foundation that cared for Arabic poetry and celebrated poets and critics came true when he launched the "Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain Prize for Poetic Creativity" in Cairo to organize the mechanisms for awarding prizes to creative poets and critics in the Arab world.
The Foundation's original organizational structure started with a primary office in Cairo, a general secretariat in Kuwait, two offices—one in Tunisia and the other in Amman—as well as a number of permanent representatives in Lebanon, Algeria, and Morocco. To oversee and organize the Foundation’s affairs, a Board of Trustees was established, is headed by Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain and comprises of a number of eminent professors, innovators, and intellectuals from the Arab world and beyond.
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In 1992, as the Foundation's third award session began, its President and sponsor, Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain, urged above and beyond simply encouraging or motivating poets by naming each award session after one of the Arab poetry symbols in order to activate the poetry movement as a whole. He also called for the commitment that all of the works of this creative poet be published, as well as a series of research and studies into his life history, poetry and the literary movement and scene of his time. In addition, he called that all of that to be done in conjunction with the holding of a literary seminar to which hundreds of Arab intellectuals would be invited, and which would include scientific sessions in which papers of the session’s poet would be presented, as well as some themes of poetry and poetic criticism would be addressed.
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In 2002, Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain took a daring and forward-thinking personal initiative, declaring that the Arab Culture Parade should be launched, both with poetry and thought, to the horizons of the world community to present the true picture of Arab society, which had been subjected to much abuse and distortion following the attacks of 9/11, 2011. Therefore, when the Foundation's president chose to hold the ninth session in 2004 in the city of Cordoba, the historic city of peaceful coexistence between peoples and religions, it was regarded as the most perilous shift in the Foundation's history.
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Starting from this session, the Foundation's subsequent sessions included a parallel symposium on dialogue between civilizations and intercultural understanding.
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In 2016, the Foundation's patron, Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain, considered that the Foundation could play a more comprehensive role in the light of developments in the world, so after consulting with the Board of Trustees, he decided that the Foundation should be renamed the "Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain Cultural Foundation."
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In 2017, Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain decided to hold the First World Forum for the Culture of Peace at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, with a significant official and cultural presence. That prominent presence of world leaders was a continuation of the moral support and high care the Foundation received from kings, princes and presidents who agreed that the Foundation's sessions and activities to be held in their countries. This also culminated in the same year with the announcement from New York of Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain launching the “Programme to Promote the Culture of Peace” in collaboration with the United Nations.
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The Foundation's efforts to enrich the literary and cultural movement have extended beyond the seminars it holds in conjunction with award distribution sessions to include the organization of numerous literary and intellectual forums in various countries of the world, the first of which was the “Poetic Forum of Laayoune” in the Kingdom of Morocco in 1996.
In 2008, Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain launched the initiative to commemorate “World Poetry Day” under the theme "Arab Poetry Spring Festival", which is held in late March each year at the Albabtain Central Library for Arabic Poetry in Kuwait.
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Perhaps one of the most significant cultural projects presented by the Foundation was the implementation of the pioneering idea proposed by Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain in 1991 with the release of the "Albabtain Encyclopedia for Contemporary Arab Poets", the first edition of which was issued in 1995 and marked the launch of a massive project that monitors the Arab poetry scene throughout its history until its first beginnings in the pre-Islamic era.
This massive project has so far resulted in the production of three episodes: "Albabtain Encyclopedia for Contemporary Arab Poets", "Albabtain Encyclopedia for Arabic Poets in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries" and "Albabtain Encyclopedia of the Arabic Poets in the Age of States and Emirates".
In 2005, Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain established the “Albabtain Translation Centre” to contribute to supporting the movement of translation from foreign languages to Arabic and vice versa, focusing on the translation of books of a scientific nature.
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In the same year, Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain established the "Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain Center for Dialogue of Civilizations", which undertook the establishment of dozens of academic chairs, as well as professorships, at many universities around the world to teach the Arabic language, Islamic culture, and the Culture of Peace. These chairs and professorships represented a continuation of the project initiated by Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain to train thousands of talented young people and lovers of the Arabic language and poetry in cooperation with 43 Arab, Islamic, and international universities.
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In 2007, Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain established the “Albabtain Center for the Authentication of Poetry Manuscripts” for the purpose of preserving, conserving, authenticating and promoting the heritage of Arab poetry.
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All of these tremendous efforts were made in addition to many of the various contributions made by the Foundation on various cultural occasions both inside and beyond the Arab world.
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Moreover, the Foundation remains committed and dedicated to implementing the initiatives of its President, the poet, Mr. Abdulaziz Saud Albabtain, and to fulfilling his good aspirations and noble goals to continuously serve the Arabic language, Arab poetry and literature and human culture.
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