Frankfurt: The Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) this year will see a record number of participating publishing houses and titles as it celebrates its 34th edition, its chief says.
The SIBF started in 1982 under the patronage of His Highness Dr. Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohamed Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah. Today it has become the fourth- largest book fair in the world.
This year, the book fair will be held from November 4 to 14 at its usual venue -- the Sharjah Expo Centre.
“The vision and directives of His Highness Shaikh Dr Sultan has greatly contributed to promoting culture, knowledge and love of the written word, not only in Sharjah and the UAE, but also in the Arab region and many parts of the world,” Ahmed Bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) told journalists on the sidelines of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Al Ameri is also the Director of Sharjah International Book Fair.
“Shaikh Sultan believes that any nation’s journey towards renaissance and development can only be achieved through knowledge, which begins with nurturing one’s mind with culture and knowledge with the main source being literature. He also believes that no nation would be able to move forward and achieve a better future without culture and science.”
Recalling the first year of the SIBF, Al Ameri said when the book fair was launched in 1982, it did not receive a decent public turnout.
“That prompted Shaikh Sultan to buy all books on display from the participating publishing houses in support of literature as well as of a cultural project that he predicted its future would be great, not locally and regionally, but also internationally,” he recalled.
Record year
The 34th edition of the book fair to be held next month, he added, will see “a record-breaking year for the SIBF with 1,502 publishing houses from 64 countries, including Poland, Peru and Ghana, Albania, Argentina, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Magnolia, and Serbia, which will take part for the first time.”
The expected record numbers build on last year’s success, Al Ameri noted.
“Last year, the book fair saw the participation of 1,256 publishers from 55 countries. SIBF is also breaking the record for the number of books displayed with 1.5 million titles that are available in 210 languages.”
This year's exhibition space will be nearly 20 per cent bigger, at 16,000 sqm, compared to last year’s 13,500. “These were not borne out of a vacuum but came as a result of the vision and efforts of an intellectual leader and ruler who advocated literature, culture and science,” he explained.
Although the numbers reflect the sustained success and growth of the SIBF, Al Ameri believes the book fair has achieved more than that.
“When I speak the language of numbers about the Sharjah Book Fair, this does not mean numbers mathematically -- as what I mean we are on the right path laid by Shaikh Sultan. We, at the Sharjah book fair, are not a mere place for the sale of books and intellectual rights, but an exhibition and cultural and literary festival that offers an inspirational platform for industry professionals, academics, artists, and the public, as well as all family members.”
All events and programmes, organised during the 11-day book fair, as well as guests hosted by the fair, he stressed, “are part of our strategy that aims to foster a love of reading and make it a life-long habit among members of the Emirati society. We seek through these diverse events and activities to make Sharjah and the UAE a bridge of communication between cultures and inter-religious dialogues.”
Al Ameri says of one of the key reasons behind the success of the SIBF is its policies that promote the culture of reading.
Tolerance
For example, he explains: “There is no book censorship at the fair at all. The best way to fight against books that may contain some subversive ideas is not to prevent them. Banning a book will make it more popular and help its writer market and circulate it in an indirect manner. We fight the ideologies of hate and extremism with tolerance and openness. We believe that literature and knowledge enlighten minds and help eradicate ignorance and backwardness.”
He said censorship is only applied when it involves intellectual property rights and prices only.
“We, at the Sharjah book fair do not allow any piracy or infringement of proprietary rights. Over the last years, we shut down some stands after they were found to be violating others’ copyrights. Also publishers participating in the fair are obliged to grant discounts between 20 to 25 per cent on all books and there is price monitoring during the 11-day exhibition. Violating publishers face penalties that may lead to the closure of offender’s stand and also the denial of participation in next editions,” he said.
Children’s events
The Sharjah Book fair this year will include events designated specifically for children despite the allocation of an annual book event for them, which is the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival.
“Children will remain in the center of our interests, and SIBF takes keen interest in allocating special events for children in order to inculcate reading in their lives as a regular habit as per the directives of Sheikh Sultan, whose vision is to encourage them and lure them to read by providing them with high quality books in terms of good content,” Al Ameri said.
