Italy is this year’s guest of honour at the 26th edition of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, the most ambitious across the Middle East and North Africa, with 500,000 new books presented every year.
The International Book Fair, running at the ADNEC – Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre – from April 27 to May 3, will be a full-fledged celebration of Italian culture: not only literature but also music, art, food and wine and cinema, all strictly Italian-made. On April 26, the eve of the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Italian Embassy in Abu Dhabi will host a concert by the Quartetto di Venezia at the Abu Dhabi Theatre to celebrate the opening of the Fair and the honour awarded to Italy as the Fair’s special guest. Italy’s presence at the Fair – organised by the Italian Trade Agency ICE with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Association of Italian Editors (AIE) and the Centre for Books and Reading – will take shape in an official area, displaying an exhibition of the illustrators showcased at the Bologna Book Fair, and that will include a book shop with books by Italian authors translated into English and/or Arabic, a business area which will host B2B meetings between the Italian publishers and local visitors, and an area displaying rare volumes within a panel reproduction of Rome’s Biblioteca Angelica.
