Our markets are dry... devoid of culture!
Last week, I visited the book fair held at the Graduates Association. Upon arrival, I was overjoyed because the parking lots were packed, and I could barely secure a spot. My happiness stemmed from the high turnout at the fair, but once inside, I found no readers among the shoppers.
Generally speaking, in our country, I feel that our markets are barren and devoid of culture. In our beautiful malls, you will find a perfume kiosk followed by an incense kiosk, and so on throughout the corridors, with no trace of books.
In Amman, the capital of Jordan, at the Boulevard Mall, there is a book kiosk. Inside the city, in the Old Souq, booksellers sit on the sidewalks. In Cairo, too, on major streets, you will find booksellers.
In Baghdad, Al-Mutanabbi Street is a long stretch lined with bookstores on both sides, with no other types of shops. In Basra, in Al-Saada Park, over a distance of half a kilometer, there are book kiosks known as “Al-Farahidi Kiosks.” These operate only on Fridays and Saturdays in the afternoon. Each kiosk is owned by a local citizen, and the place has become a destination not just for leisure, but for cultural enrichment.
In our country, this culture is absent. In our beautiful malls, you find kiosks selling incense and perfumes. In Souq Al-Mubarakiya, culture is missing, and there is only Al-Ruwaih Bookstore, located in a remote area unseen by visitors from the Gulf region. Even in Souq Al-Jumaa, the sale of used books is prohibited, whereas in Riyadh, there are several bookstores licensed to sell used books in the Al-Ulya district.
Some might argue that there are bookstores in the malls. I am aware of that, but their locations are inconspicuous and hidden from view.
The question is: Why don’t the relevant authorities require market owners to allocate kiosks for books that are visible to every passerby and visitor? Why aren’t book kiosks placed in prominent, eye-catching locations?
And why aren’t there book-selling kiosks in “Al-Shaheed Park” to imbue the place with a cultural atmosphere?
It is strange that we, the people of Kuwait, are the publishers of “Al-Arabi,” “Alam al-Ma’rifa,” and “Al-Thaqafa al-‘Alamiyya” magazines, which we distribute across the Arab world, yet these magazines are nowhere to be seen by visitors from within or outside the country.
