German book bonanza to delight Beijing

Two avant-garde artists are delivering an amazing performance inside a glass box, singing and dancing to poems of their own creation.

The glass box, called "textbox", is all set to regale visitors at the upcoming 14th Beijing International Book Fair (BIBF), from August 30 to September 3.

Not surprisingly, the unique idea has been proposed by artists from Germany, touted as the land of ideas.

"As people flock to the annual fair, the China International Exhibition Center (the venue of the event) will be very crowded and noisy. Visitors who are interested in the performance of the two poets Bas Bttcher and Timo Brunke, can enjoy themselves by listening via earphones offered by the exhibition organizers, said Jing Bartz, a Beijing-born German and director of the German Book Information Center (BIZ) in Beijing.

This year, Germany has been selected as the Country of Honor of the BIBF. The event will mark the beginning of a three-year grand nationwide cultural project called Germany and China - Moving ahead together, designed to boost Sino-German cultural exchange.

Bartz, who is in charge of organizing the events of the Country of Honor for the book fair and now working almost 15 hours a day preparing activities, said: "We have made a great endeavor to fully showcase the country's books for Chinese readers.

A string of colorful events themed "Inspiration and Innovation" will be staged during the fair, said Bartz.

The exhibition area for Germany, covering 1,000 sq m, has been designed by top German construction designer Sabine Weismller and will be decorated in pure white, adopting curve construction materials.

Exhibitions dedicated to different sections such as the annual winning works of the most beautiful book in Germany, new German literature, renowned children's books and books on tourism will be on show in this area.

Amid the "sea of books" at the venue, an old printer made by Gutenberg, creator of the first movable type printing system in the Western world, will be exhibited. A state-of-the-art Heidelberg printer will also be on show, to help visitors compare the old and the new.

The German pavilion will also have Chinese and German authors and researchers engaging in a high-profile forum on a revolving stage, discussing trends in literary, art and culture development in the two nations, Bartz said.

Three professional forums on illustration of German children's books, art design of German books, and publication management will also be held, attracting leading German publication houses such as Suhrkamp, Ravensburger Verlag and Hermann Schmidt Verlag.

It will be a valuable opportunity for local publishing professionals to gain advanced international experience.

An art exhibition titled "When East meets West" by Chinese-born German artist Yang Liu will be an added attraction at the German section of the book fair.

Seven popular German authors will attend the fair, to showcase the nation's pioneering literary works. They include Judith Hermann, Christoph and Veronika Peters, Jakob Hein, Peter Stamm, Bas Bttcher and Tanja Dckers.

Among them, the works of four authors have been translated into Chinese and are available on the Chinese book market. A last-minute story has just happened to the Berlin city writer Tanja Dckers: One of her novels will be translated into Chinese and published online, several days before she comes to Beijing.

Totally, more than 100 German publishers, authors, translators and experts engaged in culture exchange will travel to the Beijing book fair.

On August 29, the General Administration of Press and Publication in China will award three German translators and authors who have significant contribution on spreading Chinese culture in Germany.

They are Wolfgang Kubin, Ulrich Kautz and Mechthild Leutner.

"In Germany, the world-famous Frankfurt Book Fair is not only a fair for international book professionals, but is also deeply rooted in local citizens everyday lives," Bartz said.

During the fair, every book store in Frankfurt will be decorated with posters promoting the event and popular books featured in it. The bookstores also invite many foreign authors to do reading performs. Advertisements related to the Country of Honor will also be displayed.

"This year, we are devoted to introducing this idea to Beijing," she said, pointing out that seven of Beijing's top stores, including Xidan Bookstore and Sanlian Bookstore, will jointly take part in a German Book Week event, promoting the country's books to local readers.

Beijingers will thus be able to enjoy the "fragrance" of German books even outside of the fair venue.

The bookstores will each demarcate a small area as "Germany island", and buyers will have a book bag from Germany, Bartz added.

Top German sociologist Ulrich Beck, who formulated the concept of risk society, will give a speech at the prestigious Peking University during the fair.

One of the highlights of more than 100 events is a 12-hour German Evening catering to the youth will be staged from September 1 evening to September 2. It will showcase modern German literature, art and music.

Exchange intensified

Currently, Germany and China's book trade ranks top in the world in terms of revenue. Sino-German book exchange has been thriving in recent years.

Last year, Germany exported 366 book copyrights to the Chinese mainland and Taiwan Province, of which children's books accounted for the largest share at 36 percent, while non-fiction, picture and literary books made up 28, 23 and 13 percent respectively.

The memoirs of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder is the best selling German book in China.

The idea of having a "Country of Honor" at the BIBF was in fact inspired by the world-renowned Frankfurt Book Fair three years ago.

China has been named as the "Country of Honor" at the Frankfurt Book Fair to be held in 2009 and the nation vows to input strong human resource and financial support for the event.

The talk of becoming the Country of Honor for the fair had lasted for 10 years, Bartz recalled.

Through the Frankfurt Book Fair, China has realized its dream of making its books "go overseas".

In 2006, 12 publishing groups and 50 publication houses from China took part in the Frankfurt Book Fair and exported 1,364 copyrights in all, doubling the figures of the previous year.

With the further opening up of China's book trade, the figure is expected to jump to another historical high this year, market observers believe.

"We expect more Chinese publishing professionals and experts to be present in high-profile forums in the fair to voice their thoughts during the Frankfurt fair," Bartz said.

Every year, Germany publishes some 80,000 books. Among them, about 3,000 books are translated into some 40 languages every year.

The books published in China number 220,000 annually, but half of those are textbooks or educational accessories.

During this year's BIBF, 700 German books that have Chinese versions and some 20 Chinese books with German versions will be on show, thanks to BIZ's widespread collection efforts.

It seems that even the best Chinese books still have a long way to go to capture international attention.

(China Daily 08/25/2007 page7)