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.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS