TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta will host the Indonesia International Book Fair (IIBF) — previously known as the Indonesia Book Fair — in the Senayan sports hall in Central Jakarta from November 1 to 9, organized by the Indonesian Publishers Association (Ikapi), as reported by Antara News.
Ikapi head Lucya Andam Dewi said that up to 87 publishers, book stores, libraries and cultural institutions from 11 countries would participate in the book fair. She went on to say that the main focus of this year’s IIBF would be on Saudi Arabia, which will hold art exhibitions and cultural lessons.
“The book fair this year will be slightly different from previous years. The theme is, ‘Read Books, See the World’, so we will also focus on international participants, which are Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, China, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Egypt and Pakistan. Moreover, Saudi Arabia will be the main country focused on in this book fair,” Lucya told a press conference in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, adding that previously the book fair only focused on guests from Indonesia’s provinces.
She added that the Saudi Arabian cultural attaché would host cultural discussions and hold performances. She said that Ikapi personally invited Saudi Arabia because of the close relationship between Indonesia and that country.
The book fair’s name was changed to anticipate next year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, Lucya said, in which Indonesia will be a guest of honor. “Next year, Indonesia will be the guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Therefore, we also want to make our book fair recognized internationally,” she said.
ANTARA NEWS | INE
