2008 Arab Capital of Culture
Dates	2008
Locations	Damascus,Syria
Website	http://damascus.org.sy/index.php

The2008 Arab Capital of Culture was chosen to beDamascus,Syria. TheArab Capital of Culture is an initiative undertaken byUNESCO,^[1] under theCultural Capitals Program, to promote and celebrateArab culture and encourage cooperation in theArab region. The preparation for the festivity began in February 2007 with the establishing of the Administrative Committee for “Damascus Arab Capital of Culture" by a presidential decree.

The festival's events included:

• Naseeb, a musical concert byAbed Azrie.^[2]

• Sah al-Nom, a musical by the Lebanese legendary divaFairouz.^[3]
• Doxbox: Festival of Documentary Film, the first Documentary film festival in the middle east.^[4]
• Opera ofCarmen, byGeorges Bizet.^[5]
• Anoud concert byAnouar Brahem.^[6]

• A musical concert by the Orchestra ofMari.^[7]
• Bahok, a dance performance byAkram Khan.^[8]
• House of Cinema, a celebration of Arab cinema.^[9]
• World Poetry Day, a series of poetry workshops in celebration of the World Poetry Day.^[10]

• A musical concert by Italian opera orchestraI Solisti Veneti.^[11]

• Women Sing... Their Voices Converse, a music performance by Arab female musicians atAzm Palace.^[12]

• The Return of Ali Bey, a street theatre and music performance aboutAli Bey al-Abbasi.^[13]
• Just Flamenco, aFlamenco performance by Spanish bailoraIsabel Bayon.^[14]
• In Tribute to World Refugee Day, a concert byNaseer Shamma.^[15]

• World Music Nights, a series of concerts by groups from different parts of the world, with focus on ethnic music. The concerts includedDhafer Youssef,Pink Martini,Faudel,Johnny Clegg,Angelique Kidjo,Lena Chamamyan andTinariwen.
• Classical Music Nights, a series of classical music concerts in tribute toSolhi al-Wadi.^[16]
• The Falcon: Abdulrahman al-Dakhel, a dance show by the Syrian dance group Inana aboutAbd ar-Rahman I, the first Umayyad Caliphate in Spain.^[17]
• Julio Iglesias performing at theRoman theatre of Bosra.^[18]

• A series of concerts by the Lebanese musicianZiad Rahbani at theCitadel of Damascus. It was the first time Rahbani performs in Syria.^[19]
• TheFestival of Oak of Mallajeh, the 12th edition of this annual cultural festival was held under the patronage of Arab Capital of Culture festival.^[20]

• Spiritual Music Days, a series of concerts by a number of traditional and spiritual musical groups.^[21]
• Memory Club hostsColette Khoury, an event and talk by the Syrian writer.^[22]

• Zenobia, an opera byLuca Antonio Predieri about theZenobia, the Syrian queen ofPalmyra.^[23]
• A series of concerts by Lebanese artistJulia Boutros at the Citadel of Damascus.^[24]
• An Orient of Palaces:Claude Shaeffer and theRoyal Palace ofUgarit, an exhibition at theNational Museum of Damascus.^[25]

• World Ceramics: Masterpieces from theVictoria and Albert Museum, an exhibition.^[26][27]
• Damascus International Film Festival, in its 16th edition was held under the patronage of the festival.^[28]
• Contract, a dance performance by theMyosotis Dance Theatre Group.^[29]

• An adaption ofA Streetcar Named Desire directed byGhassan Massoud.^[30]
• Aramel on the Bicycle, a play byJawad al-Assadi.^[31]
• And we also love life... a tribute toMahmoud Darwish, a series of concerts by Lebanese musicianMarcel Khalife. The tour included in addition to Damascus concerts in the cities ofLatakia,Homs andAleppo.^[32]

• Official Website of Damascus Arab Capital of Culture 2008

• 2008 in Syria
• Arab Capital of Culture
• Arab culture
• Organized events in Damascus
• Festivals in Syria
• 21st century in Damascus

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata