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The International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX) 2011 will be inaugurated on Wednesday and run till Sept. 17, at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre under patronage of H. H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Representative of Ruler in Western Region, Chairman of Emirates Falconers’ Club.
The event will draw 596 hunting, equestrian and related sports companies, representing 28 countries, spreading at land area of 31, 000 metres. Besides the UAE, United States, Britain, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland, Australia, Tanzania and South Africa are taking part in the event.
This was announced at a press conference held today at Intercontinental Abu Dhabi Hotel by Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Advisor for Culture and Heritage at the Court of His Highness the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Board Member of Emirates Falconers’ Club and Chairman of the Organising Committee of ADIHEX 2011.
"The International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition (ADIHEX) is a comprehensive cultural heritage forum that records a system of values, customs and traditions that are cherished by the sons of the desert, which will further root an extended civilisation that is handed down throughout the generations for decades", he said..
The organisation of this year’s ADIHEX, Al Mazrouei added, comes in the wake of significant accomplishments achieved by the UAE recently, mainly in the inclusion of Al Ain City as the first UAE site on the World Heritage List, as well as the registration of falconry as a universal heritage in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the UNESCO.
He noted that the Exhibition is witnessing the participation of large international organisations and institutions concerned with the promotion of hunting sports fishing and conservation, particularly the International Wildlife Consultants (IWC), the International Association of Falconry (IAF), and the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC), which applauded the success of the UAE leadership for the largest registration process for an element of intangible heritage in the history of UNESCO.
"Today we celebrate the international recognition of falconry - which goes back to more than 7000 years - as an intangible heritage of humanity", Al Mazrouei said.
"We recall here the words Dieter Schramm, Honorary President of the CIC which comprises of 84 countries, when he said that an international environmentally-friendly hunting community cannot but highly appreciates the crucial role of the UAE to achieve this impressive success, as a model for cooperation for human heritage preservation among countries of the world. Through attention of the UAE, a country that is well known across the world for its Arab heritage, values and identity, falconry received the best and the widest international recognition as a human cultural heritage", he added.
Al Mazrouei said great international horse racing tracks, in the wake of the success of the activities of the World Conference on Arabian Racing Horses (Netherlands 2011) last June, and the Racing Festival of H. H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan for Purebred Arabian Horses this year are also taking part in the event.
The Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage in its ninth session is organising a number of cultural and heritage activities geared to different age groups and community members. A dedicated area is used to explain the Authority’s most important achievements. There is also a traditional games and handicrafts area. This is in addition to traditional shows of Ayala and Harbiya performed by the Abu Dhabi Performing Arts Group, which was established by the Authority.
"The Exhibition aims to celebrate and promote the UAE’s deep-rooted traditions, and protect a lot of traditional values, like falconry, equestrian and fishing. The atmosphere and social networks of acquaintance between exhibitors and visitors shows the growing power within the Exhibition", he said.
Through this unique international event, Al Mazrouei continued, the organising committee continues its contribution to spreading the message of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, may God bless his soul, in the care for symbols of the UAE heritage and to preserve the rich cultural heritage of the UAE.
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