2008 Arab Capital of Culture - The Administrative Committee

The Administrative Committee

The committee was headed by the well known professor and scholar Hanan Qassab Hassan, dean of the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus. She was the General Secretary of the event until its closing ceremony. The committee included a board of directors comprising:

• Prof. Ihsan Antabi, professor of Visual communications at the University of Damascus.
• Prof. Elias Zayyat, founder of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Damascus and professor of Oil painting.
• Prof. Michel Maqdisi, professor of Oriental antiquities at the University of Damascus.
• Prof. Rania Samara, professor of literature at the University of Paris III: Sorbonne Nouvelle.

Additionally, there was an advisory board of respected intellectuals, artists and literati including such figures as Adunis, Asaad Fidda, Abed Azrie and Ghassan al-Maleh.