Two Emirati Women Awarded French Order For Arts And Letters

The Ambassador of France to the UAE, Ludovic Pouille, has honoured Hissa Al Dhaheri and Manal Ataya with the award of "Chevaliers de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" (Knights of the Order of Arts and Letters) at a ceremony held at the French Embassy, in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 26th Sep, 2018) The Ambassador of France to the UAE, Ludovic Pouille, has honoured Hissa Al Dhaheri and Manal Ataya with the award of "Chevaliers de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" (Knights of the Order of Arts and Letters) at a ceremony held at the French Embassy, in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. The prominent award, from the French ministry of culture, is in recognition of their significant contribution to the success of the Emirati-French Cultural cooperation on the occasion of the launching of the second part of the Emirati-French Cultural Dialogue.

Speaking at the occasion, Ambassador Pouille, said, "I am thrilled to honour these two exceptional women from the United Arab Emirates, Hissa Al Dhaheri and Manal Ataya, who played a major role, with their work in the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Sharjah Museums Authority, in the dialogue between France and the United Arab Emirates in the fields of arts and culture. Arts and culture have always been at the core of the friendship and cooperation between the two countries, which have built up strong ties since the creation of the Federation in 1971."

Hissa Al Dhaheri, who started her career in 2010 in TDIC, was appointed in 2016 Deputy Director of Louvre Abu Dhabi and work on the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, first universal museum in the Arab world which is the icon of the dialogue between France and the United Arab Emirates and the openness to the world. She said, "I would like to thank the leadership of both nations for having the vision for creating an innovative cultural institution, the Louvre Abu Dhabi. I was privileged with the opportunity to serve to bring this vision to life, and today I am extremely honoured for this recognition.

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Manal Ataya, Director-General of the Sharjah Museums Authority, participated in the exhibition portraying "40 years of archaeological cooperation between France and the UAE" in 2017. The exhibition, organised by the Sharjah Archaeology Museum, in partnership with the Institut Français in the United Arab Emirates and the Cultural Department of the French Embassy, with the support of UNESCO featured more than 100 priceless objects excavated by the French Archaeological Mission to the UAE since 1977.

Ataya said, "I am extremely honoured to be receiving this recognition. I want to thank the Government of France for this monumental honour. It is with my great pleasure and gratitude to serve the United Arab Emirates, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my immense gratitude to H.H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, for being an inspiring role model to me and for his continuous support."

The second season of the Emirati-French Cultural Dialogue was also launched during the ceremony.

Following the success of Louvre Abu Dhabi opening in November 2017, France and the UAE signed a cooperation agreement that gave birth to the Emirati-French Cultural Dialogue, whose second season was kicked off by Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, and Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, on 4th September 2018 in the Louvre Abu Dhabi.