The international book fair, one of Egypt's main annual cultural events, opened for the 53rd time in Cairo on Wednesday.
According to the fair's organizing committee, 1,067 publishers from 51 countries are presenting their products this year. The fair takes place at the international exhibition center on 80,000 square meters, with 879 pavilions for publishing houses in five large exhibition halls.
The theme of this year's fair is "Egypt's Identity – Culture and the Question of the Future". For 13 days - until closing time on February 7 - the fair will include seminars and roundtables, as well as the launch of a special digital book project, which begins with the Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. This 16-volume work in Arabic by Egyptologist Selim Hassan (1886-1961) is considered the most comprehensive historical reference book of ancient Egyptian civilization.
Novelties of the fair
According to Minister of Culture Inas Abdel Daim, for the first time in the fair's history, modern technology and artificial intelligence are used for presentations and demonstrations, including interactive monitors and 3D holograms of book characters. The famous Egyptian novelist Yahya Haqi (1905-1992) and the children's writer Abdel Tawab Youssef (1928-2015), who were chosen as the main characters of the book fair, will also appear before visitors as holographic images. In addition, in one of the pavilions, young visitors will be able to listen to one of the stories performed by the author of children's books with the help of 3D technology.
Another innovation this year is the creation of a special award for the best Arab publisher. It will have several nominations, and the winner in each category will receive 40,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,545). In addition, as part of the digitalization strategy that Egypt has staked on lately, an online sale of books presented in the pavilions is launched on the book fair website.
Greece is the guest of honor at the exhibition. Russia is not largely represented this year.
In connection with the coronavirus pandemic which last year already made some changes to the international exhibition which was postponed for almost half a year, only vaccinated people will be admitted to the exhibition. Visitors are also urged to observe the necessary sanitary regulations.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS