Juergen Boos (second from the left), Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair and Chinese organizers [CFP]

"Tradition & Innovation", with this motto China presents itself as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2009. The organizers of the appearance presented the highlights of the programme, the authors and the design for the presentation by the Guest of Honour in the Forum of the Frankfurt Book Fair during a press conference.

The Chinese culture is one of the oldest cultures in global history and contrary to Chinese business is still relatively unknown in the West. The organizers want this to change, with China's presentation as Guest of Honour at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair, by setting the focus of its presentation on its literature and the intangible cultural inheritance. "We hope we can bring the history of China, Chinese culture, its writers and also present-day China closer to Germany and all the representatives of the countries travelling to Frankfurt, so that it can be experienced with all the senses", says Hang Fuhai, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Press and Publication and also the President of the Chinese Organizing Committee. China will make a renewed contribution after the Olympic Games to the understanding of world cultures with the wide spread cultural initiative for the Frankfurt Book Fair in the autumn. "China takes a big step towards us with its Guest of Honour presentation in Frankfurt: It presents its culture for the first time on an international stage. This is not only a chance for China's literature but for us also. Because we can get to know China through its literature, consisting of many voices which can give surprising answers. We only need curiosity and courage to ask questions", says Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

China will serve up several cultural and literary events to the interested public during the course of its cultural feast. Chinese culture as an artistic space is at the center point of the exhibition from the Guest of Honour in the Forum of the Frankfurt Book Fair. A drop of water, a sheet of paper, a book and a character – the elements holding Chinese culture together – form the main pillars of the exhibition designed by the Chinese artist Li Jiwei. Li, who feels just as much at home in Europe as in China and who designed the "Bubble Bar" of the Olympic swimming stadium, the "Water Cube" creates an artistic space out of four tangibly understandable elements where the observer can see and experience Chinese culture by using a modern use of forms. Water, the source of all life, forms the center of the presentation and is linked by using more than ten thousand books to create a "long river of reading".

The intangible cultural inheritance of China is in the foreground of the Chinese activities at the exhibition center: A tented landscape with a stage offers glimpses into the most varied cultural achievements of China such as paper cuts, shadow or marionette puppets as well as further forms of skilled Chinese craftsmanship which can also be learned by the visitors themselves. Traditional Chinese music, the Chinese opera, dance and Kung Fu performances round off the programme at the Agora, the all year round market for cultures at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

The Chinese pianist Lang Lang is coming to Frankfurt

The fair programme will be accompanied by a multi-faceted cultural programme in the city of Frankfurt. The Chinese garden in the Frankfurt Bethmann Park will become a show place for Chinese leisure activities, for example, the Living XXL serves Chinese vibes to its guests during a Chinese night, or the renowned Chinese pianist Lang Lang will be a guest during the opening gala in the Alte Oper. A retrospective of Chinese films will be seen in the German Film Institute DIF e.V. of the German Film Museum. The German Architecture Museum forms the setting for an exhibition on modern Chinese architecture. Further exhibitions on the topics of comics, contemporary art, wood cuts and silhouettes will also be seen. The photographic exhibition "China in the last century" which already opens on 15th of June in the central library of the city library in Frankfurt to offer a detailed view into Chinese family life, forms the opening of the Chinese cultural programme.

The publishing world and the financial crisis

High level forums with exciting contents and high ranking international attendance are also on the menu of the Guest of Honour: The challenges and chances for the media created by the financial crisis, the internet and new technologies and their influence on the development of the world press shall therefore be discussed during the "International Publishers' Forum". Six international economists, including the Nobel Prize winner for the economic sciences will discuss China's economic growth and its interaction with the global economy during the "International Economist Forum".

Authors and publishers

Renown Chinese authors, such as Mo Yan, Xu Zechen, Liu Zhenyun, A Lai, Yu Hua or Li Er, for example together with a total of 40 literary colleagues will show a diverse picture of Chinese literature in Germany. The Chinese writer Chi Zijian, currently on a reading tour in Frankfurt and Berlin with her colleagues Bi Shumin and Liang Ping, offered the following philosophic thoughts about the life of a writer in an increasingly globalized world in her address at the press conference: "I believe literature will never be completely lost as long as there is belief, character, skepsis and the critical spirit, as long as writers still have high expectations for human nature."

The publishing trade in China and the promotion of translations play one of the largest roles in the presentation of China at the Frankfurt Book Fair, of course. On 1,000 square meters Chinese publishers will be presented at the Chinese group stand in Hall 6.0 at the fairground. About 100 book titles, which will be translated in English or German within the Chinese promotion programme for translations, will be published and presented up to the Book Fair in October.

About the company

The Frankfurt Book Fair is the biggest book fair in the world – with more than 7,000 exhibitors from over 100 countries. It also organises the participation of German publishers at more than 25 international book fairs and is associated with the Cape Town Book Fair in South Africa and the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. It maintains the most visited website worldwide for the publishing industry at www.book-fair.com. The Frankfurt Book Fair is a subsidiary of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association.

(book-fair.com June 9, 2009)