Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children key participant at Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

One of the biggest tourist attractions of Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2016, the opening anthem, was enhanced by the presence of more than 25 talented children from the music department of "Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children" (AJCCC). The children aged 8-11 years added to the voice of the choir that carried out at the opening ceremony at the prestigious event, taking place in partnership with the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority.

In line with the vision of the AJCCC to present and display excellence in every field, the children representing AJCCC, practiced for the previous 2 months to guarantee that their performance at the international festival of literature was of the highest quality. The composition was provided by AJCCC kids in UAE national dress.

Tala Tutunji head of music department at "AJCCC" stated, "We created a harmonic piece that represented a combination between the East and the West, guaranteeing an apt reflection at the festival of literature that celebrates diversity of expressions.".

99 Portraits.

In addition the participation of the music department, the art department made a strong impact with their exhibition of 99 portraits which was held as an promotional event for Emirates Airline Festival of Literature. The style of the exhibit was 'time' which was interpreted through the names and qualities of God. The exhibit was hosted at Festival City in between 21 February and 13 March and aimed to develop interest in art and literature. Artist Helen Karam worked with the talented children of AJCCC to establish the exhibits, the artist commented, "We provided the exhibition in three sections, and it took us more than 2 months to prepare. Kids were encouraged to try different media for their expressions and we used ceramic plates along with hand-made products.".