September 16, 2011

In the Dutch newspaper there is some brief report on the Beijing International Book Fair where the Netherlands was guest of honour. It says that Amnesty International had called on the delegation of Dutch writers, publishers and scholars to stage a demonstration against the imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo during the opening ceremony of the Book Fair. But the delegation ignored the call because they figured that it would not be such a wise act.

There are other ways to express your views. Just like Dutch State Secretary of Education, Culture and Science Halbe Zijlstra did in his speech in Beijing: he emphasized that the Netherlands is an open country, and the Dutch are recognized for their tolerance, transparancy and freedom of speech and press. At the same time he also expressed his worries about the arrest of writers and critics of the Chinese regime.

But the participation at the book fair was primarily to introduce Dutch literature to China. Which they did. Their books were on display at the fair and there were sessions with Dutch and Chinese writers. There is no need to expect that they made an impact on the human rights issue. What does matter is that there was cultural exchange which hopefully will lead to better mutual understanding.

Written by: Audrey

August 30, 2011

This year the guest of honour at the Beijing International Book Fair is the Netherlands. The Book Fair will start tomorrow (31 August) and runs through to 4 September. According to the article ‘Beijing International Book Fair: The Dutch Do it Right’ published in the latest issue of the Paper-Republic Newsletter, this year’s Fair ‘is likely to be the first Fair that can truly call itself a cultural and literary event.’

The main reason for this is that the Dutch Foundation for Literature has been actively involved in the organization of events to promote Dutch literature. Therefore, as the article notes: ‘in addition to twenty-three visiting Dutch authors, the Guest of Honor program includes artist talks, an exhibition of Vincent van Gogh’s letters, a book cover design show, real-time collaboration between Chinese and Dutch comic artists, and an exhibition dedicated to Robert van Gulik, an early 20th century Dutch diplomat and scholar who wrote detective novels set in Tang-dynasty China.’

If you happen to be in Beijing, check out the programme available on the Helan Wenxue website.

Written by: Audrey

July 20, 2011

In local news on this year’s book fair the focus is on E-books, not only for reading but also for creating. Today’s issue of The Standard for instance carries the article ‘Book fair turns DIY e-page’ which introduces the touch-screen machines available at the fair for visitors to create their own works. All visitors have to do is download software to their smart phones, iPhone or Android which gives them a choice of up to twenty pages from the books on the touch-screen machine.

The article further notes that reading e-books is becoming increasingly common in Hong Kong. Hence the number of e-book publishers at the fair is 52% up from last year. This has also called for an expansion of the fair’s e-book and e-learning resources area, which is 72% larger than last year.

The book fair runs from 20 till 26 July 2011. For more information on the book fair, exhibitors, events, admission and opening hourse, visit the website at HK Book Fair (http://hkbookfair.hktdc.com/tc/index.aspx).

Written by: Audrey

August 24, 2010

An alert reader of this blog was so kind as to point out that our blog made no mention of the annual book fair in Beijing. So here goes: the 17th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) will be held from 30 August till 3 September 2010.

This year’s country of honor is India, showcasing the literature and culture of India. The theme ‘Exploring the Middle Path’, according to the information on the website of the Embassy of India, goes back to a statement by Tamyun Shan, eminent Chinese scholar and the Founder Director of the Cheena Bhawan established at Viswa-Bharati: “In China, Rabindranath Tagore together with Mahatama Gandhi had long been regarded as Buddhas of the modern India.” As the explanation goes on about the Buddhist ideal of middle path: “With its Buddhist connection and Indian tradition of espousing peace, tolerance and exchange of ideas on the one hand, this will also find a connect with and echo our contemporary endavours to find common platforms of social, economic, cultural and political dialogue with China. In the literary field, for example, the idea of translation of books for a wider understanding of the foreign societies and their literature itself is a kind of middle path that seeks to connect and communicate with disparate languages and cultures.”

It is good to have readers send us information on events so if you know of something interesting coming up, or if you like to share your views on Chinese culture, please do drop us a line.

Written by: Audrey