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Wednesday (Dec 16) The Movenpick Hotel Bahrain in Muharraq will hold a lighting up the Christmas tree event at its lobby lounge starting at 5.30pmThe evening will feature cookies, Gluehwein, drinks and cocktails as well as Santa Claus laden with gifts for children. For details contact 17460096.

In tribute to the National Day and Accession Day, Al Bander will celebrate its fifth Annual Carnival Fair co-sponsored by Batelco on Wednesday at its premises in Sitra. The open day will feature a list of activities for the entire family including a magic show, DJ, face painting, henna, balloon twister, clown, stilt walker, rope walker, fire show, beach activities, Daddoob band, Bahrain traditional band, go karting, fireworks show, laser show and food stalls. Doors open at 9am. Entry is free for all. For details contact 17701201 or visit

www.albander.com

The Triskelion International Bahrain in cooperation with Ramada Palace Hotel will organise an all Filipino Bands Charity Concert entitled 'Musik Pasiklaban'. The event is held for the benefit of ANCOP- Gawad Kalinga-Bahrain, a project to raise funds for a village in the Philippines. Tickets are priced at BD1.500 for details log in to https://triskelion.blogsome.com/2008/12/17/pinoy-bands-in-concert/

Prerana Bahrain is hosting a Book Festival and Indo-Arab Cultural Meeting 2009 today, tomorrow and on Friday at the Priyadarshini Auditorium at the South Park Restaurant, Gudaibya.

The inaugural ceremony will be held today at 7pm followed by the commemoration of late South Indian poet Madhavikutty by Prof Sara Joseph at 7.30pm. A study and discussion on contemporary Malayalam poems will take place at 8.30pm followed by the inauguration of the book exhibition at 9.30pm by Manoj Kana.

On Thursday, at 7.30pm Prof Sara Joseph will talk on 'Issues of Indian Women' and on Friday at 9.30am, she will hold a story workshop. At 7.30pm Hassan Haddad will perform on the oud to inaugurate the Indo-Arab cultural meet followed by a presentation by Dr Abdulla El Madani on 'socio-cultural ties between India & the Arab region'.

Talks will also be given by literary critic Jaffer Hassan, activitst and writer, Sara Joseph as well as playwright and director Manoj Kana. The evening will end after a classical music performance by Varun and Akhilesh.

The book exhibition will be held from 7pm to 11pm everyday and is free for all.

For details contact president E P Anil on 39304316, secretary R Sudhis Kumar on 39870397 or general convener K V Prakash on 39643309.

The British Club in Umm Al Hassam will hold special National Day entertainment hosting UK band 'The Christians'. Dinner will be from 7pm to 8.30pm and the show starts at 9pm. Tickets are BD15 for members and BD17 for guests.

For details, contact 17728245 email britclub@batelco.com.bh or log on to www.britishclubbahrain.com

Club Seven 7 stages a Bollytronic Nite at Mishal Hotel in Hoora featuring DJ Josh. A dance competition will be held from 10pm to 11pm and DJ Ibdi will warm-up before DJ Josh takes over. The party will go on until 2am. Entry is BD3 for couples, BD3 for men and free for ladies all night. For details contact Hatim on 36315494.

Monday (Dec 21)

Albareh Art Gallery will host artist Abbas Yousif who will showcase more than 20 paintings in acrylic and mixed media, in tribute to his late friend and Bahraini artist, Nasser Al Yousif (1940-2006) from December 21 to January 3.

Abbas's work includes paintings, graphic arts and 'livres d'artiste'. He has had six solo exhibitions in Bahrain and in Abu Dhabi and has also participated to numerous collective exhibitions in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.

Public collections holding his works include the British National Museum in the UK, National Museum in Damascus and the Royal Fine Arts Society in Amman.

Yousif has won 'Arts that inspire Arabic Calligraphy' award in Sharjah in 2006 and the Calligraphy Biennial of the Islamic World in Tehran, Iran in 2002.

For details contact 17717707.

Tuesday (Dec 22)

The Al Riwaq gallery in Adliya is hosting a solo exhibition by Waheeda Malullah until December 28.

The show entitled 'Visual games' will take the perspective of children's point of view in order to trace their process of creating games. The work, driven by Waheeda's interest in child psychology, will be exploring the way in which children structure their thought process. The artist will convey this through photographic and video works which will deal with this theme in a playful manner. For details email info@alriwaqgallery.org or contact 17581176.

Art Lounge will host an exhibition from today until December 20 at Al A'ali Shopping Complex from 10am to 10pm. It will feature the works of Bahraini artist Abbas Almosawi and German photographer Manfred Erber with part proceeds to a child care charity in Bahrain.

Personal signed copies of the book 'Abbas Almosawi and the Colours of Bahrain' will be available during the exhibition.

Both artists will participate at 'Bilateral Relations - A conversation in art between Bahrain and Germany' in summer 2010 in Berlin.

For more details visit www.artlounge08.com or contact Marion Labani on 39212060.