Abu Dhabi, March 09: The biggest session of Abu Dhabi International Book Fair concluded Sunday evening in the UAE capital with great success.
The Fair’s 20th session, held from March 2 – 7 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, is organized by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) and KITAB, a joint venture between ADACH and the Frankfurt Book Fair.
The Fair is held under the Patronage of General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nayhan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
Mohammed Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Director General of ADACH, said “This session was remarkable; 840 publishers from 63 countries from around the world took part in the Fair, offering more than 500 titles of best books in literary and intellectual, cultural, science, economic and various types of knowledge. The Fair attracted more than 236 thousand visitors from all age groups. The sideline multicultural activities were successful too.
Mazrouei expressed his thanks and appreciation to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi for his generous patronage of the Fair, and his support for all its activities, pointing to the grant of 4 million Dirhams for schools and universities students attended the fair.
Mazrouei also extended his appreciations to Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Chairman of ADACH, for his constant following of the strategy of development of the Fair, which represents a serious cultural vision of presenting books, and discussing cultural matters in a direct dialogue with the wide public.
He confirmed that Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed supports every cultural activity, considering that science is the foundation of progress, and sees the Book Fair as a fundamental cultural event that presents what happening in the field of writing, publishing and translation; the event is a chance for the public to meet directly authors and publishers and others involved in the industry. He asserted that organizing the Book Fair in Abu Dhabi annually comes in line with the high stand the city is granted over the years as a hub for culture and science which deeply supports culture in all its forms.
More than 150 cultural events took place on the sideline of the Fair. About 1200 of intellectuals, poets, cultural personalities, and publishers participated in the professional programme where specialized symposia for publishers, agents, distributors, booksellers, translators, and the public were organized.
The cultural programme included daily events at Kitab Sofa, discussion forum, poetry forum, UNESCO reading Club, Abu Dhabi literature and Publishers Club, as well as the educational program which gathered more than 250 experts in curriculums, book industry and school principals and faculty members from various schools from all over UAE. That is all in addition to the creativity corner, electronic publishing corner, and cooking corner.
The Fair witnessed more than 60 book signing events. And the event attracted the attention deferent media; more than 500 local and international media outlets covered the event daily.
With a believe in the importance of the library and to enhance its role to create a reading generation, ADACH launched the Future Library project, which represent an advanced libraries offers electronic services in deferent parts of the Emirates.
ADACH also announced the establishment of a private company to facilitate the distribution of Arabic books throughout the region and the world. The company is the first of its kind in the Arab world, it is expected to register about 200 thousand titles in phase one of its database.
Kalima, ADACH translation project, announced new mechanism for translation called “bridges,” which is intended to create a platform to meet and interact between Arab and international publishers.
Mazrouei stressed that “translation and the process of cultural exchange is one of the most important themes of the Cultural Strategy of Abu Dhabi Government, it is a key element in the development of human civilization, which means providing the potential that allows the promotion of local and Arabic culture, and at the same time expand our horizons and our relations with others. Kalima project has succeeded to strengthen our capabilities in this area after translating more than 300 books in two years from 10 international languages.”
Qalam, ADACH initiative to nurture, encourage and promote Emirati creativity and talent through writing has published new 20 titles for Emirati authors.
The Poetry Academy at ADACH participated in the fair with 25 specialized titles. The academy stand witnessed many new book signing ceremonies where poets meet their audience directly.
The Fair hosted for the second time the Antiquarian book show, where valuable and rare manuscripts, maps and photos aged more than seven centuries were on display.
Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior affairs awarded the winners at the fourth session of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in a special ceremony held during the Fair. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, was chosen for the Cultural Personality of the year Award.
Saudi novelist, Abdo Khal has won Arab Fiction Award for his latest novel. Khal was rewarded in a special ceremony during the Fair.
Juma Al Qubaisi, Director of Abu Dhabi International Book Fair and Director of the National Library at ADACH said “the Authority has accomplished a lot in the field of culture since it was established four years. All book industry elements are a key component of the cultural strategy of Abu Dhabi.”
The most outstanding achievements of the Fair , according to Al Qubasi, is that it became an international event.
He pointed out that such huge participation of 840 publishing houses in the Fair, which displayed more than half a million titles, reflect the growing status of the fair at the global level; the number of international publishers has reached more than 350 houses. On the other hand, the Fair management apologized for 72 Arab and international publishing house for not having space for them, though the total area of the exhibition was expanded by approximately 20 thousand square meters by 20% in 2009.
Also according to Al Qubasi, 20 Arab publishing houses were rejected due to piracy activities. He stressed that the most important characteristic of Abu Dhabi Book Fair is the commitment to copyright laws.
The Fair’s total sales of books and other print publications and software has reached more than 37 million Dirhams (about $ 10 million). Partial business deals made between many of parties participating in the Fair reached 25 million Dirhams.
Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is considered a growing market for book sales, where a lot of regional schools and universities and government agencies buy specialized books, as well as the public.
Al Qubaisi reveled that the most of the Fair space for next year 2011 has been booked, confirming that the fair management is keen to choose the best publishers according to specific criteria, with studying the possibility of increasing the fairs area again to meet the desire of many publishing houses.
He stressed that Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is characterized by the high quality books on display; whith no place for bad quality books. It is the only exhibition in the region with a global reputation in combating piracy and protecting copyrights. That’s what lead it to host the seventh symposium of the International Publishers Association for the first time in an Arab city, Abu Dhabi , which took place just before the opening of the Fair.
He pointed that the total number of publishers participating in the Fair this year has doubled three times comparing with 2007 (although participating in the Fair at that time was completely free), also the total number of countries participating in the fair has multiplied by four times comparing to 2007.
The total number if publishers has grown from 637 publishing houses in 2009 to 840 in 2010. The number of participating countries has grown also from 52 countries in 2009 to 63 in 2010. While the total area of the Fair increased from 16722 square meters in 2009 to 20192 square meters in 2010.
—Agencies