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Casa Árabe’s “Friendship” Award Ceremony for 2024
January 23, 20256:00 p.m.
MADRID
Casa Árabe Ambassadors’ Hall (at Calle Alcalá, 62, First Floor).
6:00 p.m.
You must register in advance to attend.
Register by filling out this form.
In Spanish.
On Thursday, January 23 at its headquarters in Madrid, Casa Árabe is holding the award ceremony for the “Friendship” Prize, the second edition in 2024 of which has been given to Waleed Saleh Alkhalifa, professor emeritus at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Sign up here to attend the event.
The jury’s decision specifically valued the work by Professor Waleed Saleh as one of the great promoters of the teaching of Arabic language and culture in Spain and his work to spread awareness about contemporary Arab culture, with more than 30 publications on various subjects (language, literature and Islam) and over fifty devoted to research, writing and teaching, occupying a prominent place in contemporary Spanish Arabism.
In this sense, his teaching performance was valued at all levels in Arabic education, which earned him the admiration of students and teachers alike “for his dedication, professionalism and eagerness to excel,” his works on Arabic teaching methodology, of great pedagogical value, and his lectures and Arabic-Spanish-Arabic translations, in addition to his fervent defense of an all-inclusive, modern Arab culture, far from strictness and dogmatic excesses, open to plurality, debate and diversity.
In short, as stated in his nomination, supported by three institutions and three other personalities from the Spanish-Arabic academic and cultural sphere, he is not “a simple foreign language teacher, but rather a substantial figure who combines, in a certainly exceptional way, professional zeal with a permanent will to bring Spanish-speaking students closer to the Arabic language.”
In addition to the prestigious distinction, the winner will receive an “Orante,” a sculpture by artist Rachid Koraïchi, internationally acknowledged for his work in sculpture, installations, ceramics and textiles.
The jury also decided to award an honorable mention of the Posthumous Award to Federico Arbós Ayuso, a translator and professor at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Casa Árabe’s “Friendship Award” was created with the purpose of acknowledging the work of individuals and entities, whether public or private, foreign or domestic, that have made an outstanding contribution spreading the Arabic language, innovating in it, increasing awareness about it or extending it to include other activities which enhance its uniqueness, its heritage in the Spanish language and its vitality today. By creating the “Amistad” Award, Casa Árabe is attempting to increase awareness about the Arabic language and allow it to spread further, highlighting and rewarding those who contribute to its richness and expansion through their hard work and dedication.
SCHEDULE
6:00 p.m. Welcome
Irene Lozano Domingo, General Director of Casa Árabe
6:10 p.m. Award ceremony
6:15 p.m. Speech by the award-winner Waleed Saleh, UAM
6:30 p.m. Closing event
In this sense, his teaching performance was valued at all levels in Arabic education, which earned him the admiration of students and teachers alike “for his dedication, professionalism and eagerness to excel,” his works on Arabic teaching methodology, of great pedagogical value, and his lectures and Arabic-Spanish-Arabic translations, in addition to his fervent defense of an all-inclusive, modern Arab culture, far from strictness and dogmatic excesses, open to plurality, debate and diversity.
In short, as stated in his nomination, supported by three institutions and three other personalities from the Spanish-Arabic academic and cultural sphere, he is not “a simple foreign language teacher, but rather a substantial figure who combines, in a certainly exceptional way, professional zeal with a permanent will to bring Spanish-speaking students closer to the Arabic language.”
In addition to the prestigious distinction, the winner will receive an “Orante,” a sculpture by artist Rachid Koraïchi, internationally acknowledged for his work in sculpture, installations, ceramics and textiles.
The jury also decided to award an honorable mention of the Posthumous Award to Federico Arbós Ayuso, a translator and professor at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
Casa Árabe’s “Friendship Award” was created with the purpose of acknowledging the work of individuals and entities, whether public or private, foreign or domestic, that have made an outstanding contribution spreading the Arabic language, innovating in it, increasing awareness about it or extending it to include other activities which enhance its uniqueness, its heritage in the Spanish language and its vitality today. By creating the “Amistad” Award, Casa Árabe is attempting to increase awareness about the Arabic language and allow it to spread further, highlighting and rewarding those who contribute to its richness and expansion through their hard work and dedication.
SCHEDULE
6:00 p.m. Welcome
Irene Lozano Domingo, General Director of Casa Árabe
6:10 p.m. Award ceremony
6:15 p.m. Speech by the award-winner Waleed Saleh, UAM
6:30 p.m. Closing event
Waleed Saleh Alkhalifa
Waleed Saleh Waleed Saleh, professor emeritus at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, is an Iraqi-born Spanish researcher who specializes in the teaching of Arabic language and literature, as well as being a socio-political analyst of the Arab and Muslim world. He has taught at various universities and educational centers in Iraq, Morocco and Spain.
He was born in Mandali, a small Iraqi village on the border with Iran. He moved to Baghdad, where in 1972 he graduated from the School of Education’s Arabic Language and Literature section at the University of Baghdad. From 1973 to 1978, he taught at several schools in Iraq. From 1978 to 1984, he lived in Morocco, where he taught at different centers, above all the University Teacher Training College in Errachidia. In 1984, he moved to Spain, where he has lived ever since. He earned his PhD in 1990 from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, in Arabic Philology, and in 1994 he graduated in Hispanic Studies, in the specialization of Spanish Literature, at the University of Valencia, as well as earning his PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
He has worked as a correspondent for Arab newspapers and as a literary advisor, as well as becoming a member of the editorial board of Algarabía, a journal on the teaching of the Arabic language published by the Centro de Profesores de Málaga. He was also the editorial secretary of the journal ISIMU on the Near East and Egypt in Antiquity, published by the the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Higher Center for Asyriology and Egyptology Studies.
Since 1992, he has been a Sworn Translator of Arabic appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has translated several Spanish-language works into Arabic, especially those by Gabriel García Márquez. He has also translated several literary works from Arabic into Spanish. He collaborates as a political commentator in different Spanish media.
Waleed Saleh Waleed Saleh, professor emeritus at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, is an Iraqi-born Spanish researcher who specializes in the teaching of Arabic language and literature, as well as being a socio-political analyst of the Arab and Muslim world. He has taught at various universities and educational centers in Iraq, Morocco and Spain.
He was born in Mandali, a small Iraqi village on the border with Iran. He moved to Baghdad, where in 1972 he graduated from the School of Education’s Arabic Language and Literature section at the University of Baghdad. From 1973 to 1978, he taught at several schools in Iraq. From 1978 to 1984, he lived in Morocco, where he taught at different centers, above all the University Teacher Training College in Errachidia. In 1984, he moved to Spain, where he has lived ever since. He earned his PhD in 1990 from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, in Arabic Philology, and in 1994 he graduated in Hispanic Studies, in the specialization of Spanish Literature, at the University of Valencia, as well as earning his PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
He has worked as a correspondent for Arab newspapers and as a literary advisor, as well as becoming a member of the editorial board of Algarabía, a journal on the teaching of the Arabic language published by the Centro de Profesores de Málaga. He was also the editorial secretary of the journal ISIMU on the Near East and Egypt in Antiquity, published by the the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Higher Center for Asyriology and Egyptology Studies.
Since 1992, he has been a Sworn Translator of Arabic appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has translated several Spanish-language works into Arabic, especially those by Gabriel García Márquez. He has also translated several literary works from Arabic into Spanish. He collaborates as a political commentator in different Spanish media.
Federico Arbós Ayuso
A tenured professor of Modern and Contemporary Arabic Literature with the Universidad Complutense de Madrid’s School of Philology until his retirement in 2013, he had previously held various positions of responsibility in Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Director of the Hispanic Cultural Center of Alexandria (1969-1971), Director of the Middle East Section of the MAE between 1987 and 1988, Director of the Cervantes Institute in Cairo (1993-1997), the Cervantes Institute in Casablanca (2000-2003) and the Cervantes Institute in Rabat (2007-2012), where he played an important role in spreading Spanish language and culture, as demonstrated by the many important meetings and activities he carried out, building bridges with both civil society and the art world. With a PhD in Philology (Arabic and Islamic Studies) from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, he was born in Pedro-Bernardo (Ávila) on February 13, 1946.
Having authored countless articles on Arabic literature and a scholar in particular of the work of Al-Bayati, Mahmud Darwish, Mohammed Bennis and Adonis, he published Myth and Symbol in the Poetry of Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayati (1996), Reviews and Remembrances (2019) and The Talisman of the Hand and the Word: Three contemporary Arab poets (2024). As a translator, he focused on the work of Al-Bayati (Moon of Shiraz. The Kingdom of the Spike, 1999), Mohammed Bennis (Wine, 2015; Book of Love, 2017) and Adonis (Book of Fleeing and Moving through the Climates of Day and Night, 1993; Book I, 2005; This is My Name, 2006; Tree of the East, 2010; Book II, 2018. In 2012, he was awarded the National Translation Prize for his version of Epitaph for New York. Marrakesh/Fez, by Adonis.
A tenured professor of Modern and Contemporary Arabic Literature with the Universidad Complutense de Madrid’s School of Philology until his retirement in 2013, he had previously held various positions of responsibility in Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Director of the Hispanic Cultural Center of Alexandria (1969-1971), Director of the Middle East Section of the MAE between 1987 and 1988, Director of the Cervantes Institute in Cairo (1993-1997), the Cervantes Institute in Casablanca (2000-2003) and the Cervantes Institute in Rabat (2007-2012), where he played an important role in spreading Spanish language and culture, as demonstrated by the many important meetings and activities he carried out, building bridges with both civil society and the art world. With a PhD in Philology (Arabic and Islamic Studies) from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, he was born in Pedro-Bernardo (Ávila) on February 13, 1946.
Having authored countless articles on Arabic literature and a scholar in particular of the work of Al-Bayati, Mahmud Darwish, Mohammed Bennis and Adonis, he published Myth and Symbol in the Poetry of Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayati (1996), Reviews and Remembrances (2019) and The Talisman of the Hand and the Word: Three contemporary Arab poets (2024). As a translator, he focused on the work of Al-Bayati (Moon of Shiraz. The Kingdom of the Spike, 1999), Mohammed Bennis (Wine, 2015; Book of Love, 2017) and Adonis (Book of Fleeing and Moving through the Climates of Day and Night, 1993; Book I, 2005; This is My Name, 2006; Tree of the East, 2010; Book II, 2018. In 2012, he was awarded the National Translation Prize for his version of Epitaph for New York. Marrakesh/Fez, by Adonis.