The International Podgorica Book and Education Fair, after a one-year break, opened tonight in the garage of the Delta City shopping center. This year's jubilee 15th book fair, which will last until October 4, was officially opened by playwright and author of literary works for children, Dejan Aleksić. After the ceremonial opening of the fair, the fair program officially began, with the exhibition of paintings "My Cyrillic" by Olgica Stefanović.
"Such gatherings in honor of books are usually accompanied by well-known platitudes, such as the one that book fairs are the 'flower of culture' and there is nothing to complain about or add to that." On the other hand, book fairs are increasingly viewed as places on the front line of defending the honor and dignity of books. Since we live in a time that opens the paradox of Pandora's box in the sense that knowledge and books are more accessible than ever, and in fact the question is often asked whether there are books, in the form in which we have known them for centuries, the future before the invasion of new media, modern technologies and digital reality ", Aleksić said opening the fair, after which he read one of his short tests called "Defend the Book".
In addition to him, the Director General of the Directorate for Education of Minorities and National Communities in the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Safet Kalač and Jelena Krsmanović from the organization of the International Podgorica Book and Education Fair spoke at the opening.
"I particularly liked the slogan of this year's fair, 'Let's turn a new side,' because globally the whole world is at a turning point, primarily due to the health situation and environmental changes. We would all like to turn to a new, better and more beautiful side. In previous years, numerous world names, almost all regional writers who have won important literary awards, were guests of this fair. Writers and publishers from Montenegro and the region will participate in this year's fair, and some of our secondary and elementary schools will present their activities in a special fair area and a special program section," said Kalač.
The fair brought together numerous domestic and foreign exhibitors, and the guest country of the fair this year is Bosnia and Herzegovina. A special segment of this year's fair, as announced, will be the presentation of primary and secondary schools, as well as their activities. Secondary schools that will have their own stands are: "Slobodan Škerović" High School, "Vaso Aligrudić" Electrical Engineering School, "Inž. Marko Radević" Construction and Surveying School, "Mirko Vešović" School of Economics, as well as "Sergej Stanić" Vocational High School. "Ivan Uskoković" and "Spasoje Raspopović". While the elementary schools presented at the fair are "Sutjeska" and "Maksim Gorki". Kalac asked all visitors to visit their stands and encourage the children for further education.
"In this time full of challenges, we really need the promotion of education more than ever, because as Manson Mandela said: 'Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world', and change is exactly the basic motto and catchphrase of this year's book fair," Kalač said. .
The International Podgorica Book and Education Fair is organized by the publishing house "Nova knjiga", and the main sponsor of the 15th fair is the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports. Entry will be free for all visitors, subject to compliance with all epidemiological measures.
"The book fair is one of the most visited cultural manifestations in Montenegro, so this 15th in a row will have many participants, friends, and we hope that it will be the same with the visitors. We are at the very beginning of an event that will bring together writers and readers, media and libraries, bookstores and publishers, cultural institutions and those for whom culture is important", announced Krsmanović at the opening.
My Cyrillic
The exhibition of paintings "My Cyrillic" by the painter Olgica Stefanović, organized by the Budva National Library, was officially opened by prof. Dr. Aleksandar Jerkov.
"We have been taking care of the Cyrillic alphabet for years and we make sure that the Cyrillic word is read, understood and seen. That the beauty of this script, which I did not evaluate as one of the most perfect in the world, but that it was said about it where the histories of literacy were evaluated, that this script has equality and be available to us", he said and added:
"One library and one artist found a way to revive the beauty of those letters, to remind us of those wonderful miniatures, initials, capitals that adorned the most beautiful manuscripts ever created and to surprise you most persistently," said Jerkov.
He also explained that he once spoke with a colleague from Göttingen, who is a European digitization expert, who told him that if we want it to remain permanently preserved, we should print it on paper, because that's the only thing we know for sure. permanently.
"When we look at our old books, manuscripts of fables and when you see the beauty of those letters and their joy, then you see that this is a renewal of the culture of keeping memories and memory, one culture of life and one, and this must be clearly stated in Montenegro, culture of democracy. In that culture, Cyrillic inscriptions are not removed during the night, but people are allowed to be who they are, to love their past and to write as they want and do not harm anyone, it just ensures that we are who we are - we have both." , he concluded and thanked them for the opportunity to present this exhibition at the fair.
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