The International Kolkata Book Fair (IKBF), or Boi Mela to Kolkatans, will be back on January 30, 2023, with Spain as its focal country.
The Book Fair will be open at Salt Lake Central Park till February 12, 2023.
Addressing a press conference at The Lalit Great Eastern, Kolkata, on November 30, Tridib Kumar Chatterjee, honorary secretary general, Publishers and Booksellers Guild, shared the highlights of the upcoming Book Fair.
“The fair will be inaugurated by chief minister Mamata Banerjee. We are honoured to announce that the focal theme country of the 46th IKBF will be Spain. We believe that Spain’s participation as the theme country will strengthen the cultural bonding between the two great countries. The international complex will also have the UK, USA, Japan, France, Vietnam, Latin American countries, Bangladesh and more. Publishers from states like Delhi, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, along with little magazines will be an integral part of the fair. The 9th Kolkata Literature Festival will be held from February, 9-11, 2023,” Chatterjee said.
The press conference was attended by Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey, president, Publishers and Booksellers Guild; and Jose Maria Ridao Dominguez, Ambassador of Spain in India; along with other guests from the Guild and the Spanish embassy.
The logo of the focal country was unveiled at the inauguration.
Ambassador of Spain in India Maria Ridao Dominguez addressed the audience, focussing on the importance of the participation of Spain in the Book Fair along with the cultural bonding between the two countries. He also gave a sneak peek of the Spanish Pavilion, which promises to be environmentally friendly and will send out strong messages of saving the planet and reading books.
‘’The presence of Spain at the IKBF is a result of a string of collaborations among many institutions in Spain like Institut Cervantes. No less than 25 writers will come to Calcutta to present their works to you. Many publishers will come to the Book Fair. To go with these, we will provide to the Indian public performances, cinema and other events. We are here because Spanish representatives pay a lot of respect to Indian culture. It is also a question of learning from India, Indian authors, publishers, press and organisers. It is an exchange,’’ Dominguez said.
‘’At the Spanish embassy in Delhi and the consulates in India, we are committed to equality, freedom and progress. Being at the IKBF is also a result of our engagement with these three values. We think that culture is one of the main tools to reach progress and to be free and equal,’’ Dominguez said.
The Spanish ambassador also referred to a unique pavilion during his speech. ‘’Our pavilion will be built with humble material. We would like to underline the value of culture and how culture can build art with humble materials,” he said.