The organizers of the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) on Tuesday introduced some of the main pavilions and activities of the event, and goodies available for visitors.
Earlier this month the book fair’s organizers introduced this year’s guest of honor, the Netherlands, and international writers who are to attend the event. On Tuesday they held another press event to showcase pavilions with a predominantly Taiwanese focus.
These include a children’s pavilion, a digital pavilion, a Taiwanese comic book pavilion, a literature pavilion, and a pavilion dedicated to independent bookstores and publishers.
Photo: CNA
The children’s pavilion is to spotlight a large model of a ship and feature ocean-themed decorations to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Dutch sailors setting foot in Taiwan, said Jeffery Lin (林峻丞), founder of the New Taipei City-based social enterprise Culture, Art and Nature, which curates the pavilion.
The pavilion is to feature story books about the sea and maritime adventures, and children are to be able to read the storybooks on display and have audio recordings of their recitations made, which could be downloaded via a link, he said.
Three Taiwanese podcasters as well as an unnamed “VIP” are to visit the section to read select books to children, he said.
At the digital pavilion, visitors are to be asked to take part in story writing via an app on a console or their mobile phones, which has customizable book covers featuring users’ portraits, said Tahan Lin (林大涵), CEO of crowdfunding consultancy company Backer-Founder, which is responsible for designing the pavilion.
The goal is to familiarize people with e-books and e-book platforms, while promoting the idea of “you as a book” that can be shared and potentially help others, Lin said.
The goal is to upload at least 5,000 e-books made by visitors, who, after sharing their stories online, are to receive a prize supplied by the event sponsors, said Tahan Lin.
The Taiwan comic book pavilion is to feature 32 works selected by comic book editors, publishers and copywriters, and written by Taiwanese comic book artists, who are considered to possess the potential to be popular overseas, as well as works that dominate the bestseller lists of online booksellers Kingstone and Books.com, said Yeh Tzu-hao (葉子豪), a section chief at the Taiwan Creative Content Agency, which overlooks the section.
The literature pavilion is to feature literary works chosen by a selection of publishers, said Nikki Lin (林巾力), director of National Taiwan Museum of Literature, which organizes the pavilion.
Meanwhile, the section dedicated to independent bookstores and publishers is to feature recordings of sounds associated with 31 independent bookstores in Taiwan, Taiwan Association for Independent Bookshop Culture secretary-general Lin Hung-ju (林虹汝) said.
The section is also to feature “independent listening rooms” where visitors can listen to music inspired by the sounds, Lin Hung-ju said, adding that visitors are also to be able to take home a program introducing the pavilion and the philosophy behind its design.
In an effort to support local publishers and promote reading, visitors are to receive discounts equivalent to the ticket price, which is NT$150 for the general public and NT$100 for students older than 18 and visitors who are 65 or older, Ministry of Culture Department of Humanities and Publications head Yang Ting-chen (楊婷媜) said.
In addition, residents who are 16 to 22 years old are to be able to use “Culture Point” e-vouchers when they shop, she said.
Visitors arriving from south of New Taipei City, including Yilan County, are to be granted free admission upon presenting an on-the-day transportation ticket stub, the ministry said.
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