Kalima – the translation initiative launched by Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) – has celebrated its 10th anniversary with the announcement of the translation of 1,000 books from 13 languages into Arabic. The project also marked its first decade of operations by stating that it has signed cooperation agreements with more than 50 foreign publishing houses.
Launched in 2007 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Kalima aims to revive the translation movement in the Arab world and to extend bridges of cultural communication between peoples to promote dialogue, openness and tolerance.
In addition to its cooperation with publishers, the past 10 years have seen Kalima sign numerous partnership agreements with prestigious universities in countries across Europe and Asia. It has collaborated with translation centres in Japan and Korea and established a database of more than 600 professional translators in the Arab world.