China as special guest of International Belgrade Book Fair

China as special guest of International Belgrade Book Fair

During the first pre-fair conference in the Belgrade City Assembly on Wednesday, the biggest cultural event in Serbia was discussed by Culture Secretary of the City of Belgrade Vladan Vukosavljevic, Book Fair Board Chair Zoran Avramovic, Chinese Ambassador in Belgrade Li Manchang, editor of the fair programme Dragan Hamovic and Manager of the Confucius Institute Radislav Pusic.

Vukosavljevic noted that over 450 direct presenters, 33 of them from abroad, have applied for participation at the Belgrade Book Fair.

In addition to presenters from China, the fair will also gather publishers from France, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Iran, Montenegro, Japan, Belarus, Greece, Croatia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, Austria, Spain, Germany, Angola and India.

As the special guest of the next, 60th book fair in Belgrade, India will present a brief overview of its literature and culture this year.

The fair will also feature a stand of EUNIK (network of culture institutes from EU countries) which will help the visitors learn more about EU countries and the possibilities of improvement of cultural cooperation.

Chinese Ambassador in Belgrade Li Manchang announced that China will send its delegation comprising 200 members, including around 100 representatives of over 60 publishing houses, to take part in the Belgrade Book Fair. The Chinese stand will occupy a special honorary place at the fair and it will feature over 5,000 publications presenting the achievements of contemporary Chinese publishing industry and cultural development.

Editor of the Belgrade Book Fair accompanying programme Dragan Hamovic said that in addition to the presentation of a number of authors and topics from China, the focus of this year's fair debates, promotions and themed exhibitions will rest on three anniversaries which bear exceptional importance for Serbia's culture, the 200th anniversary of the first edition of works by Vuk Karadzic (Pismenica and Narodna Pesmarica), the 150th anniversary of Branislav Nusic's birth and the 100th anniversary of the Great War.

Pusic underscored that Serbian sinologists have prepared several debates and topics connected to the place of Chinese literature in Serbia and translation of new literary pieces from Chinese into Serbian, as well as a number of meetings with Chinese scientists and authors who should visit Belgrade during the fair.