The 19th International Podgorica Book and Education Fair, under the slogan "With a book without distance", opened tonight at XNUMX pm in the garage part of the Delta city shopping center.
The opening was attended by Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, numerous high-ranking state officials and representatives of the diplomatic corps, and numerous guests from Montenegro and the region.
The Minister of Culture and Media, Maša Vlaović, officially opened the fair and expressed great satisfaction that she was given this honor and trust among so many admirers of the book. Announcing the mission and cultural policy of the Ministry she heads, she also pointed out that the large presence of participants from Montenegro and guests from the region is a living testimony that "none of us were shaped by just one national culture or regional identity, just like language in everyday life and in art does not aim to separate us from each other, but for people to understand each other and discover themselves in the other's words."
"Based on the principles of openness towards everyone, we will develop and strengthen the cultural policy in the Ministry of Culture and Media, in order to enable our culture and creativity to find an audience not only in Montenegro, but also around the world. That's why our book policy must be complete and rounded," Vlaović pointed out and stated that the Ministry is aware that domestic publishers depend on state support.
"The Ministry will continue to support events that affirm culture and publishing, and offer our audience the creativity of other cultures and languages," Minister Vlaović said.
He believes that the slogan of this year's Fair - "With a book without distance" emphasizes that literature is a kind of area of freedom and imagination - for all of us.
"We survived the stormy and difficult time of the epidemic, so we must be led into the future by a storm of progress, like Cleo's New Angel, whom Walter Benjamin called the angel of history," she stated.
Vlaović said that national and ethnic differences get their most beautiful form at this kind of fair, because publishers from Montenegro and the region are present at it.
Writer and academician Goran Petrović, who addressed the audience with a solemn speech, pointed out that every book, including the ones we are surrounded by at the Podgorica Fair, proves that "there is also what we sense and imagine, and what we have not yet found".
"Don't let us forget their purpose, the purpose of books, just as we have forgotten the purpose of all those mighty keys that have accumulated in our lives, in drawers, bowls and pockets and supposedly old-fashioned purses. The greatness of the entire world and of each of us individually depends on it," Petrović said.
"Writing is rounding the world... As far as I'm concerned, the fair was already opened by a girl flipping through a book to one of the stands," Petrović said.
On behalf of the host, the director of the "Nova knjiga" publishing house, Predrag Uljarević, spoke at the opening. He pointed out that "we have all been waiting for this moment" of meeting books and readers again in a public space without distance.
"The last Podgorica book and education fair before the coronavirus pandemic now seems as if it took place in another time and in another world. In the days, weeks and months of great worries and bad news, which slowly piled up in two years of the pandemic, most of all we missed meetings and conversations, socializing and places where we can gather," said Uljarević.
"Both in better and in worse circumstances, a person needs another, someone with whom he can see and talk with all the openness and trust that is possible among people. Such meetings without any distance have always been a human need. This need has not disappeared despite the pandemic, which we hope we have left behind," he believes.
"One such meeting in which we do not need any distance is the Book Fair. Book fairs are an old European legacy. They have always been a place for meetings and conversations, an opportunity to deepen existing experiences with new books, and to meet old questions with new answers. Perhaps we need such meetings today more than ever. Even during the pandemic, both as Nova Knjiga and as the Podgorica Book and Education Fair, we tried to stay in touch with readers, to delight them with new books and proven values," said the director of Nova Knjiga.
Announcing the meeting that started last night, Uljarević stated that the organization of such a Fair is a great challenge and that after 17 years we have a book fair that is an important event for regional publishers, a book fair that is a major promotional platform for cultural and educational institutions in Montenegro - from library, through museums, galleries and archives, to schools and colleges, a fair that is a great festival of contemporary literature and a favorite event in the public and cultural life of Montenegro.
On behalf of the special guest, the Sarajevo Book Fair, the guests present at the opening ceremony were greeted by the president of the program council of the Sarajevo Book Fair, Ibrahim Spahić. He particularly referred to the long-standing and successful cooperation between the Sarajevo Book Fair and the Podgorica Book Fair as well as the Podgorica publishing house Nova knjiga.
"In our 17 years of association with New Book, Podgorica has shown an ability to stick to world literature, open to works awarded at the Book Fair in Sarajevo. In addition to its basic designation, the Fair in Podgorica also carries the designation that it is also an education fair." , said Spahić, stating that Podgorica and Montenegro have a rich literary scene in all generations of writers.
"Montenegro thinks of Europe and Europe thinks of Montenegro, as far as literary trends are concerned," Spahić illustrated the connection of the Montenegrin scene with literary trends.
After the opening ceremony of the fair, BiH Ambassador Branimir Jukić opened the stand of the guest, Sarajevo Book Fair, and then, organized by the National Library of Budva, the opening of the exhibition "Budva lives history" by authors Gordana Ljubanović and Maja Simonović was held.
During the fair, numerous literary programs will be organized with participants from Montenegro and the region.
The book fair will last a week, and will be open to visitors every day from 11 a.m. to 21 p.m. Entrance to the Fair is free.
Related Articles
Bonus video:
