French Minister of Culture awards Hoda Al Khamis Kanoo and praises cultural developments in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi, June 1, 2010 (WAM)- The French Minister of Culture, Frederic Mitterand, awarded Hoda Al Khamis-Kanoo, Founder of the Abu Dhabi Music '&' Arts Foundation with the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters award, in the presence of Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, patron and president of the Abu Dhabi Music '&' Arts Foundation and Alain Azouaou, Ambassador of France to the UAE, media persons and guests, at a ceremony held on Monday May 31st, 2010 at the residence of the French Ambassador in Abu Dhabi.
Mitterand said: "Yesterday I honoured His Excellency Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, present here today. He has been the main driver of the plans for the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum assisted by Mrs. Rita Aoun who is helping him realise this important project. Today I would like to honour the person who has worked in an exemplary manner to enable the cultural life in Abu Dhabi to prosper. Whose efforts have ensured the overall success of Louvre Abu Dhabi and other museum projects on Saadiyat Island. For they will not exist in isolation but will be at the heart of a network of cultural activities".
Addressing Hoda Al Khamis Kanoo, he said:"You are an "excellent citizen of the world of culture," at the same time rooted in the land and its cultures. You were born in a multicultural country, Lebanon, to a Saudi father and a Syrian mother; and you are married to a Bahraini businessman. Cultural diversity for you is more than just a wish, it is a part of your life. – Emirates News Agency, WAM