Events

Viewed as a cultural and literary hub of the region, the Sharjah International Book Fair is your gateway to audiences who love the written word.

This event is one of the world’s largest book fairs, held at the Sharjah Expo Centre every year. The eleven day fair has over 400 literary events, including daily writing workshops, poetry readings and book signings. The stalls prominently feature local favourites, including several Arabic books on Sharjah, Arab culture and Arabic art. The Sharjah book fair is a huge attraction for literature buffs. Travellers interested in the arts put it high on their list of to-do Sharjah tourist places, as it is a Sharjah event that attracts over 2 million visitors and 1,420 national and international publishing houses. Books at the fair cover diverse genres in over 210 languages, while the panels have a star-studded lineup of renowned literary figures and authors.

This year, the Institute is launching a new initiative, HumAIn: Being Human in the Age of AI, which aims to foster dynamic conversations, create intellectual communities, and inspire research and teaching that captures the very human hopes, fears, challenges, and opportunities for people, institutions, and communities in the age of AI. Forms of algorithmic technology touch numerous facets of our global society in ways that demand engagement from human-centered perspectives. What possibilities does this technological moment open to reimagine what it means to be human–not only in terms of limits or risks, but also in terms of creativity, responsibility, and collective futures? This initiative examines the broad, societal significance of how AI shapes human experience.