Foreword

Dear readers,

As the UAE celebrates 2019 as the Year of Tolerance, it’s extremely fitting that this year’s Nobel Museum exhibition should focus on Nobel laureates in literature under the slogan ‘Sharing Worlds’. For we should never underestimate the vital role literature plays in allowing us to grasp and learn about the cultures of others. It allows us to explore worlds we might never physically visit and it lets us step into the minds of characters’ emotional journeys, all of which give us a greater understanding of human complexities and instils values of tolerance and compassion.

A partnership between the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) and the international Nobel Foundation, the fifth Nobel Museum exhibition set out to bring attention to several Nobel laureates in literature who have made an impression on millions of people over the decades, producing literary masterpieces that have endured throughout human history.

As the fifth Nobel exhibition draws to a close at La Mer, Dubai, I’m delighted to report it has been a resounding success, attracting visitors of all ages. It is my hope that many future authors have been inspired by the exhibition and the guest speakers who so graciously held workshops during the event. It may only be a matter of time before we see a writer from the UAE follow in the footsteps of the great Naguib Mahfouz, the first Arab writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Indeed, it’s been an exciting time here in Dubai of late with the Nobel exhibition also coinciding with UAE Innovation Month, which saw more than 1,000 events take place across the country over recent weeks.

Designed to stimulate minds of all ages, it is through initiatives like UAE Innovation Month that we could soon see groundbreaking and life-changing solutions emerge to tackle the challenges of the future.

Educating youth is vital to positioning the UAE as one of the world’s most innovative nations. So too is allowing their imaginations to soar.