Language

English, French

Producer

Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage
Ms. Barakat Hala

URL

DVD

Description

The monumental work of the Description de l'Egypte published more than 200 years ago by the Napoleon expedition to Egypt remains up till today a reference work cherished and used by amateurs and experts alike. “Description de l’Egypte: Natural History” is a user-friendly and multi-lingual DVD that offers an authentic scientific interpretation of the natural history section of the famous “Description de l’Egypte”. The DVD provides the current valid scientific names of each plant and animal species mentioned in the original volumes as well as brief, simple but up to date scientific description. The original illustrations accompany each entry and have been supplemented with maps for the old and recent distribution of the species. The updated information is provided in English and French. The DVD also includes the original “old” French text.
The DVD was developed jointly with the International School of Information Science (ISIS) . Both CultNat and ISIS are affiliated with the Library of Alexandria (BA).

Reason for nomination

Language

English, Arabic

Producer

Mosaic Bahrain
Mr. Ali Follad

URL

www.mosaicbahrain.com

Description

You only have to take a look around to be inspired. The very essence of Bahrain's artistic legacy can be found in the traditional wooden dhows that dot the harbour, craftsmen weaving baskets with date palm fronds and potters sculpting from clay behind their wheels and more. These elements speak the language of the Kingdom's rich cultural heritage and flourishing art and crafts industry. The website draws on this rich cultural heritage and flourishing art and crafts industry by providing a photo gallery as well as much descriptive information on Bahraini Pottery, Weaving, Woodwork, Metalwork, Gold & Jewellery, Glass Industry, and Plant Products & Arabic Calligraphy.

Reason for nomination

This website preserves the culture of Bahrain by providing rich contents about the flourishing art and crafts industry in Bahrain with attractive design and simple interface.

Language

English, Arabic

Producer

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)
Ms. Dalal Albusairi

URL

www.7achy.com

Description

Kuwaiti Hachy, or dialect, is hard to understand. The aim of 7achy is to translate and explain the meaning of Kuwaiti words and their origin for both Kuwaitis and none Arabs.
With constant interaction with foreigners & new media technology, the old Kuwaiti dialect has been swaddled and forgotten; some words became too hard for Kuwaitis to understand, especially for the new generation, others will be surprised by Kuwaiti dialect etymology. 7achy wants to preserve Kuwaiti dialect, and to populate 7achy.com as much as possible with content to be the Kuwaiti official dialect dictionary. Not only foreign Arabs struggling to understand Kuwaiti dialect, but also none-Arab foreigners find great pleasure in learning the Kuwaiti dialect, thus this site has been founded. 7achy.com not only provides the meaning in both Arabic and English, but also uses visual illustration and audio to explain words and proverbs. 7achy.com was developed on a blog base to raise the interaction between visitor and site admin; visitors may express their opinion and can comment. One word or proverb can have different meanings depending on the situation or person's background thus having a live feedback from the user can enrich site content and have it up to date rather than one-way communication.

Reason for nomination

Traditional old Kuwaiti vocabulary is being less used among the young generations in Kuwait, with the increase use of new media tools, young generation tend to use English fonts and vocabulary to communicate with their peers. Hachee dot com is a website that is dictionary for Kuwaiti old traditional vocabulary. It explains the meaning of the word, it has audio that illustrates how the word is pronounced, and also gives an example sentence of how this word can fit into a context of a phrase. The website also provide the history of that word and its origin of where it first appeared geographically, by what group of people, what it used to mean (if it had different meaning at its beginnings) and how it evolved till today. On top of all of that, the website is produced by a young Kuwaiti female (in her 20's) and that is what’s making it popular among youth too!