Doha International Book Fair Started its Work with Iran being Present in the Absence of Saudi Arabia and The United Arabic Emirates

1396/09/09-11:06

Under the slogan “Towards a Conscious Society,” the 28th Doha International Book Fair was officially opened with Iran being present while Saudi Arabia and The United Arabic Emirates were absent. The Iranian Stand started its activity attended by Dr Salah bin Ghanem Al Ali, the Minister of Culture and Sports of Qatar, Mohammad Ali Sobhani, the ambassador of Iran in Qatar, and Reza Shahrivar, the Iranian cultural attaché in Doha.  
According to a report by the Public Relations Department of the ICFI, this edition of the book fair is hosting 29 countries including Iran, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Morocco, Sudan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Germany, France, Turkey, China, India, and Malaysia attracting around 400 publishing houses from across the world.
The book fair will showcase a total of 18,185 titles on an area of 23,500 sq. m. in 760 stands. 
Germany is the guest of honour but the sideways events of the book fair are to be concentrated on Turkey. This country is going to hold extensive workshops. Also the participation of China is quite palpable given the extensive attendance of Chinese publishers in this edition of the book fair.
Among the events considered for this book fair by the Iranian Stand is a programme hosted by a group of artists under the title “Listening to the Books” in which the artists read out books for the audience in order to encourage them to read more.
The first Doha International Book Fair was held in 1972 under the supervision of the Qatari books houses and it was continued on a biennial basis until 2002. Since then, the book fair has been held annually. For the first time, the United States was the guest of honour of the book fair. And then, France, Turkey, Iran, Japan, and Brazil were the guest of honour, respectively. 
With a stand of 24 sq. m., Iran Cultural Fairs Institute has participated in the event as the representative of the Iranian Publishing Industry to showcase 400 titles in different genres like Iranology, art, classical and contemporary literature, religion and children. 
In addition to Iran Cultural Fairs Institute, the Iranian cultural attaché in Doha, and Publishing houses like Kani Mehr, Ehsan as well as the Persian Culture and Art Institute are participating in this edition of the book fair. 
The 28th Doha International Book Fair will be held between Nov. 29 and Dec. 5, 2017.