Beijing Book Fair Opens With Persian Folk Music, Naqqali

The 24th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF) was officially inaugurated August 23 with Iran as the guest of honor.

Participating with over 1000 book titles, Iran’s motto is ‘Iran, the Colorful Dream of Silk Road’, Honaronline reported.

Iran had a live music program and naqqali (a tradition in storytelling) session for the opening ceremony.

Lian music ensemble performed a repertoire of folk music of their native region Bushehr, south of Iran, which was welcomed by the audiences.

Led by the ney-anban (bagpipe) virtuoso and music researcher Mohsen Sharifian, the band played Bushehri music which is an offshoot of ‘bandari’ (literally meaning ‘of the port’) music, common in the southern coastal areas of the Persian Gulf.

Another part of the event was dedicated to a naqqali performance by four Iranian women. Reciting some epic tales of ancient Iran and China, the program was performed by artists Sara Abbaspour, Parisa Simin-Mehr and Bahareh Jahandoust. Firouzeh Reis-Dana also accompanied the group by playing kamancheh (a kind of spike fiddle).

A total of 14 publishers and 13 literary institutions are presenting their latest books in various fields and 100 representatives, including Iranian publishers, writers, illustrators and artists, are present at the event.

A series of publishing seminars, book promotion events, talks with writers, illustrators’ shows and art performances have been planned for the 5-day international event at Iran’s pavilion. Literary meetings and screening of selected Iranian films are among the programs.

Iran pavilion is located at the entrance of West Hall 2, New China International Exhibition Center, covering an area of 500 square meters.

The fair will conclude August 27.