A new cultural scandal… Projects to print the works of Abdullah Hadi Subeit falter due to regionalism and neglect.

Arabian Sea - Exclusive

A new cultural scandal... Projects to print the works of Abdullah Hadi Subeit falter due to regionalism and neglect Aden - Special to Bahr Al Arab Once again, one of the most prominent attempts to save the legacy of the great Yemeni poet, artist, and national intellectual, the late Abdullah Hadi Subeit, is collapsing before our eyes, this time due to the hateful regional mentality, and the conflict of absurdity and recklessness that is plaguing educational and cultural institutions in Aden, while the history of our symbols is being lost, and their works are being buried in drawers. Dr. Ahmed Ali Al-Hamdani, Professor of Modern Literature at Aden University, bitterly revealed the details of the failure of his national cultural project to print the complete poetic and theatrical works of Abdullah Hadi Subeit, after years of tremendous efforts to collect those works from dispersion, with an individual and personal initiative that ministries and institutions with their entire budgets are incapable of. Al-Hamdani explained that he obtained official approval from the presidency of Aden University to print the works through the university press, and he actually undertook to collect the literary and artistic legacy of the late poet, and succeeded in preparing the materials for printing, but the project fell victim to the mentality of the small-minded, as it collided with trivial arguments such as "there is no paper," and what is worse is that shameful regional voices rose asking: "Why is the project being adopted by someone from Aden?" As if culture and creativity have become the exclusive property of the elders of the regions, not the property of the nation. When "regionalism" becomes more important than the nation's heritage This is not just an administrative obstruction, but a new slap in the face of everyone who believes that Yemen still has room for culture and history. Despicable regionalism has turned a figure the size of Abdullah Hadi Subeit, from a national poet and creator into a victim of the cheap conflict of geography, while cultural officials are turning into paper merchants and owners of personal whims. The absurdity did not stop here, as the same efforts made by Al-Hamdani to print the works of the other figure, the poet Abdul Rahim Salam Al-Qurashi, collided with the same wall, where no voice rises above the divisions, and no support for any project rises above the narrow affiliation, even if the price is burying the legacy of poets who created the conscience of this people. Widespread solidarity with Al-Hamdani and calls for action Amid this farce, many announce their full solidarity with Dr. Ahmed Ali Al-Hamdani, who single-handedly bore the burden of a national project that was ignored by institutions that are supposed to have been established to protect the cultural heritage, not to bury it under the rubble of paper, corruption, and regionalism. The question remains: How long will this mediocrity continue? Who is responsible for the loss of the heritage of Abdullah Hadi Subeit, and who will hold accountable those who tamper with Yemen's intellectual gains? National memory does not wait for anyone... and shame will haunt everyone who was the cause of extinguishing the light of Yemen's creators.