The Ministry of Culture and the Taipei Book Fair Foundation yesterday invited members of the public to read “through the five senses” at the Taipei International Book Exhibition.
The exhibition is to run from Jan. 31 to Feb. 5 at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1.
With the theme “The Multiverse of Reading,” this year’s exhibition is to feature several pavilions and sections, along with a party hosted by sociologist and Searchlight Culture Lab CEO Lee Ming-tsung (李明璁), the ministry said.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Book Fair Foundation
The party, with the theme “Listen to the Different,” is to be held on Feb. 3.
It is to feature music and modern dance performances, as well as recitations in Mandarin, Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese), Hakka, indigenous languages, sign language and Polish, he said.
“Reading and listening allow us to slow down, discover the unknown and reflect on ourselves,” Lee said.
The exhibition’s Pavilion of Children’s Books, with a marine life theme, would be built as a 16-sided polygon using Taiwanese cedar, the ministry said.
The Pavilion of Digital Publications is to be set up as a “spacecraft shelter,” it said.
Yu Wei-ta (余韋達), project manager at curator Gong-san Marketing, said the interactive pavilion would allow visitors to explore the differences between print and digital publications.
The Pavilion of Book Prize Winner would display works that have won plaudits at the Golden Tripod Awards, Golden Comic Awards, the China Times Open Book Award and others.
In line with the sustainable philosophy of the exhibition, the pavilion would be built with recyclable materials other than plastic and wood, foundation director Wang Hsiu-yin (王秀銀) said.
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature has invited several Taiwanese publishers and representatives from the publishing industry to share with readers behind-the-scenes details of the industry in the literature section, museum director Nikky Lin (林巾力) said.
In the citizen section, more than 40 speeches discussing social issues would be arranged, Independent Publishers Association of Taiwan chairman Chen Hsia-min (陳夏民) said.
Visitors who spend more than NT$500 at the exhibition in a day would receive a specially designed badge and those who spend more than NT$1,000 would receive an astronaut-themed bottle pouch, Wang said, adding that the gifts are limited in number and can be collected at the main service desk.
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