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Belgrade Book Fair Opens With Iran as Guest of Honor

Several publications from Iran are presenting their titles and works of Iranian artists such as calligraphy, illustration and miniature are also on display
Belgrade Book Fair Opens With Iran as Guest of Honor
Belgrade Book Fair Opens With Iran as Guest of Honor

The 61st International Belgrade Book Fair (IBBF), where Iran is the guest of honor, was officially inaugurated on Sunday, October 23.

Head of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) Abouzar Ebrahimi Torkaman, Serbian Minister of Culture and Media Vladan Vukosavljevic and Iranian Ambassador to Belgrade Majid Fahim Pour and Cultural Attaché Mohsen Soleimani, along with diplomats from other countries, publishers and writers attended the opening ceremony.

Iranian author and filmmaker Narges Abyar spoke about the status of books and book reading and the role of women writers in Iran and invited the IBBF officials and Serbian publishers to visit the next Tehran International Book Fair in 2017, the ICRO public relations office reported.

Later, the Iranian and Serbian officials visited Iran’s pavilion where besides book displays, a musical performance and a ‘naghali’ (traditional Iranian story-telling) session performed by two women artists Parisa Simin-Mehr and Sara Abbaspour, who had also performed during the Frankfurt Book Fair (October 19-23), was organized.

Torkaman and Vukosavljevic discussed cultural ties between the two nations.

“This event and the strong presence of Iran as shown in Iran’s pavilion indicate the importance of developing mutual relations. Given the abundant opportunities I hope that effective steps can be taken in this regard through coordination and planning,” Torkaman said.

“Unfortunately, we observe that unlike in the past attention to spirituality and its integration with culture has been fading and spirituality has been isolated from cultural activities; thus efforts should be made to return the spirit and spirituality to the cultural domain to help lift human dignity in present times.”

Mutual knowledge of religions and cultures has a huge effect on the development of cooperation, peace and stability in the world and in this regard Iran has engaged in the development of dialogue with different religions and cultures. “We can develop and implement such a platform between Iran and Serbia as well,” he added.

Expressing satisfaction over the presence of Iran as the guest of honor at the event, Vukosavljevic agreed with Torkaman on the lack of spirituality in culture and said, the words were “very significant for me and this important matter emphasizes the need for cooperation with other countries with a lasting cultural engagement.”

Referring to prominent Iranian figures such as Saadi, Hafez, Mawlana, Ferdowsi, Khayyam and Attar, Vukosavljevic said: “These are immortal personalities and the common cultural heritage of humanity and they should be introduced to different communities. Accordingly, we proclaim our readiness for the translation and publication of the prominent poems and works of Iranian Literati into the Serbian language”.

The directors of the National Library and Archives of Serbia gave a report on their activities and cooperation with Iran’s Cultural Center in Belgrade.

  Adorned With Persian Paintings

Iran’s pavilion is decorated with Persian paintings which create a pleasant ambiance for the visitors who joyfully take photos standing beside them. Also Serbian women Persian instructors, wearing traditional Iranian clothes, are an attraction for the visitors.

Several publications from Iran are presenting their titles and also works of Iranian artists such as calligraphy, illustration and miniature are on display.

Author Mostafa Mastour, children’s writers Farhad Hassanzadeh and Mojgan Sheikhi, calligrapher Elaheh Khatami and illustrators Mahshsid Darabi and Raheleh Barkhordari are among the Iranian guests at the event.

About 100 books translated into Serbian are on display at Iran’s pavilion mostly on history, language and contemporary literature, and eight books will be unveiled during the fair. There will be four lectures and seminars on the literature and translation in Iran and Serbia and a photo exhibition showing today’s Iran.

A total of 450 publishers are presenting their latest titles. Besides Iran, Russia, India, Hungary, China, Croatia and Slovenia are also taking part.

The largest and oldest cultural event in southeast Europe, the Belgrade fair aims to promote new releases and authors from Serbia and the world, as well as host a number of in-house events organized by publishers.

The 2016 IBBF will run through October 30.

 

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