Open Taiwan: Taiwan Pavilion Showcases Tradition, Technological Advances at 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair
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The 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair is set to launch its 70th edition from Oct. 10-14, and The Taiwan Pavilion will feature the theme of “Open Taiwan.” The Taiwan Pavilion will also showcase the global competitiveness and rich diversity of the local Taiwanese publishing scene. This year’s recommended authors Ta-Wei Chi and Yu-Li Lin are testament to the nation’s strength in LGBT and journalistic literatures, respectively, according to event organizers Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture and Taipei Book Fair Foundation at an Oct. 3rd press conference in Taipei City.
Said features echo FBF Guest of Honor Georgia’s tagline “Made by Characters,” the organizers added, while highlighting the importance of human dignity and the values outlined in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is also celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2018.
Ying-Fang Chen, director of the MOC Department of Humanities and Publications, said this year also marks 30 years of active participation by Taiwan in the world’s largest book fair. A total of 115 publishers are exhibiting 934 titles at the 2018 event, Chen said, adding that it shows Taiwan’s continued dedication to advancing the global publishing culture while furthering the nation’s prized diversity.
TBFF chairman James Chao noted that this year’s Taiwan Pavilion features a record number of participants and publications, and the theme “Open Taiwan” serves to highlight the diversity and openness of local publishing scene, evidenced by Li’s journalistic writings as well as Chi’s sci-fi novels and his research on LGBT literature. Also debuting at FBF are “The Pop-up Creation Manual” and Taiwan’s proprietary smart learning robot, which integrates English teaching materials with programming languages, he added.
A documentary film on this year’s recommended writer Chi was premiered at the Oct. 3rd event. Taiwan and Germany mirror each other in such issues as transitional justice and gay rights, according to Chi, and both countries are actively working to advance development in these areas. Chi said he expects this year’s exhibition to shed new light on the nation’s history by looking at the development of its LGBT literature, which has been hailed as spearheading advances of respect and equal rights for the LGBT community in Asia.
Hsin-Fu Hong, founder of Fu-Fong Cultures Publishing Ltd, was also present to introduce “The Pop-up Creation Manual,” the world’s first practical guide to creating pop-up books. Collecting 72 basic paper art techniques, which all feature detachable and reusable parts, this manual is making its worldwide debut at FBF, and will usher Taiwan’s paper art into the global arena.
The Coding Educational Optical Identification Device (CEOID) robot, a crossover project between Ampus Technology Co., Ltd. and Reading & Rhythm Co., Ltd., was made available for a trial run at the press conference as well. Both Director Chen and Chairman Chao expressed amazement at the state-of-the-art development of coding-enabled language learning experience.
During the course of FBF, the Taiwan Pavilion will offer a wide range of handicraft and pop-up book demos, and are prepared to bring a one-of-a-kind interactive reading experience to German showgoers.