Indonesia Prepares 300 Books for Frankfurt Book Fair 2016
29 September 2016 19:40 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia will be participating in the Frankfurt Book Fair from October 19-23, 2016 in Germany. At the world's largest and oldest book fair, Indonesia will display 300 books selected by a team of independent curators.
Indonesia's participation is fully supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Creative Economy Agency, and the National Book Committee.
"We wish to provide a wider support," the Education and Culture Ministry's secretary general Didik Suhardi said on Thursday, Sept. 29.
Steering Committee of the National Book Committee Goenawan Mohamad said Indonesia was invited to take part in the event by the president of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
"Last year, Indonesia wowed Frankfurt Book Fair president Juergen Boss as well as the visitors with the art performances we displayed, even though we didn’t meet our book sales target," he said.
Goenawan said that while in Frankfurt co-exhibitors and publishing agencies will transact copyrights. "We will bring to them a contemporary, creative and plural Indonesia—not just an exotic Indonesia," he said.
The National Book Committee will exhibit literary works and other arts, and send 20 delegates including 10 of Indonesia's finest writers to take part in writing workshops and gain experiences in a number of countries. The delegates who will attend the Frankfurt Book Fair are Laksmi Pamuntjak, Eka Kurniawan, and Seno Gumira Ajidarma, among others.
CHITRA PARAMAESTI