India – Guest of Honour Country @ Guadalajara International Book Fair

NBT and FIL signed the MOU in July 2018. A curtain raiser to the event was held in the 2018 edition of the Book Fair in November-December where India was handed over the baton by Portugal, the then guest country, by its Prime Minister to the Ambassador of India, Mexico with participation of National Book Trust, India.

After United States of America, India is the second largest English language publisher in the world. India with all this achievements has travelled a long way in the arena of book publishing.

This year (2019-2020), India was accorded the status of Guest of Honour Country at Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (April 24 – 30, 2019), Guadalajara International Book Fair (Nov 30 – Dec 8, 2019) and Paris Book Fair (March 20-23, 2020) with NBT designated as the Nodal Agency by the Ministry of HRD coordinating the Guest Presentation at all three countries.

India Pavilion at FIL Guadalajara 2019

The Design: In Guadalajara International Book Fair 2019, a large India Pavilion across nearly 1200 square meters is being created by National Book Trust, India through its design partner, the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. The design of the India Pavilion is based on the concept of presenting Indian culture through the idea of a landscape of languages that embodies India’s multiculturalism through rich and diverse literary and oral practices. The richness of this landscape of languages is depicted through the use of letter-forms from eight widely used Indian scripts and eight that are endangered. Forming the functional and visual elements of the Pavilion, the letter-forms represent the diversity of cultural expressions that through the ebbs and flows of time have made India what it is today.

The other major highlights of the India Pavilion are:

Gandhi Exhibition: As this year, we are commemorating 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of nation, India pavilion has Gandhi installation titled ‘Gandhi: The Writer’s Writer’ focusing on the literary contributions and literary influences of Mahatma Gandhi.

Literary Programmes: There will be a well-appointed Authors’ Corner where you will see nearly 55 literary programmes and more than 50 authors and speakers exchanging views on different aspects of academic and intellectual world with participation of Mexican scholars as well. Adding to this, science film screenings by Vigyan Prasar are being organized.

India Bookstore: There will also be an India bookstore where books from India will be sold. The unsold books will be put up for display and sale in ten Mexican cities for a period of six months at the specially created India Book Corners.

Business Tables: Separate business tables will be provided for the publishers, for copyright and for business negotiations.

Spanish Translations: During the event National Book Trust, India is publishing 10 children’s books into Spanish language for sale and further collaboration with Spanish language publishers. National Book Trust, India is also supporting a group of 22-25 authors from different fields like children’s literature, science, academics, media etc.

Rights Exhibition: A rights exhibition of 250 books from India representing the publications of 24 Indian publishers is being put up to promote copyright exchange and translation of Indian books into Spanish and other world languages.

Art Exhibition: At the India Pavilion, three major art exhibitions are being organized by National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, IGNCA, and Lalit Kala Akademi. Ministry of Culture and the ICCR are supporting 6 cultural troupes which will perform every evening on the sidelines of the book fair as per the MOU.

Digital Presentation: Digital presentation on ‘environment and climate change’ as exhibited through children’s books illustrations from NBT archives. Among other events Antariksha Sanchar, a speculative science fiction adventure inspired by the vibrant cultures of South India will also be presented at the India Pavilion. A digital art presentation on Ramanujan’s dream, a state-of-the-art video engagement with the visitors will also be organised through NID.

Last but not the least, there will be a magnificent India Food Festival which will be organised by the Embassy of India through ITDC and Bollywood Film screenings are also part of the presentation. In all, the India delegation consists of more than 100 members.

The next edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair 2020 is being held from January 4 -12, 2019 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The New Delhi World Book Fair – the largest in the Afro-Asian region, organized by National Book trust, India since the last 47 years attracts publishers, booksellers, booklovers, librarians, scholars, educationists, and visitors from all across India and the world. Bookings are likely to start in the second week of October. For booking of space at NDWBF 2020, contact: nbtexhibition@gmail.com

Indian Publishers/National Institutions represented at India Pavilion@ FIL 2019

• Amar Chitra Katha
• Association of Indian Universities
• B Jain
• Blackstone Books
• Campfire Graphics
• Capexil
• Central Hindi Directorate
• Creative Educational Aids Pvt Ltd
• Creative Educational Aids Pvt Ltd
• CSTT
• DC Books
• DRDO
• Falguni Publishers & Dist.
• Gita Publishing House
• Gullybaba Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.
• Hind Yugm
• IGNCA
• Jawahar Publishers & Dist.
• Kalyani Navyug Media Pvt. Ltd.
• Katha Books
• Krishna Publisher
• Lalit Kala Akademi
• Lenin Media
• LiFi Publications Pvt. Ltd.
• Macaw Books & Bookmatrix
• Magenta Press & Publication Pvt. Ltd.
• Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd.
• National Book Trust, India
• Om Books International
• Pacific Books International
• Pickle Yolk Books
• Rathore Publishers & Dist.
• Rudra Publishers & Dist.
• Sahitya Akademi
• Sanatan Yogadharma Prasar LLP
• Spring Time Software
• Sultan Chand & Sons
• Times Group Books
• Vidya Bharti
• Vigyan Prasar
• Vishwakarma Publications