"BOOKAREST" The Bucharest International Book Fair
7th edition
Focus theme: France
Venue: Etaj 3/4 Gallery in the National Theatre building and the Dalles Hall - Bucharest
Date: June 2 - 6, 1999
Organizers: the artexpo Foundation and the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation
Support from: the Romanian Ministry of Culture, ARCUB Center for Cultural Projects - Bucharest City Hall, the Association of Professional Writers in Romania - ASPRO
Rental fee: 700,000 lei/m2 for Romanian participants (that is less than 60 DM/m2;100 $/m2 for foreign participants
Total exhibition area of the Fair: ca. 2 400 m2 out of the total of 4 700 m2
Exhibitors: 287, including 187 from Romania and 20 from Germany, the United Kingdom, Republic of Moldova, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, plus the 80 publishing houses from France and Belgium, represented in the stand reserved to the guest of honour. The French stand was situated in the first hall on the 3rd floor of the exhibition space, with an area of about 350 m2 and over 1800 books exhibited. "Espace France" - as the French stand was called - also included a Francophone Book Salon, organized by Agence de la Francophonie, which gathered books and publications from countries of the Francophone space - especially from its south. The concert shows (performed by guitar player El Hadj N'Diaye from Senegal) enjoyed the appreciations of both the exhibitors and the public.
An opinion poll showed that the accessible prices of the books exhibited in the French stand attracted buyers, so that the number of books sold was beyond expectations. Besides, the sales at the stands of the Romanian publishers, although lower than the previous year, belied pessimistic forecasts.
Comments on the exhbitors: The French stand was situated in the first hall on the 3rd floor of the exhibition space, with an area of about 350 m2 and over 1800 books exhibited. "Espace France" - as the French stand was called - also included a Francophone Book Salon, organized by Agence de la Francophonie, which gathered books and publications from countries of the Francophone space - especially from its south. The concert shows (performed by guitar player El Hadj N'Diaye from Senegal) enjoyed the appreciations of both the exhibitors and the public.
An opinion poll showed that the accessible prices of the books exhibited in the French stand attracted buyers, so that the number of books sold was beyond expectations. Besides, the sales at the stands of the Romanian publishers, although lower than the previous year, belied pessimistic forecasts.
Events: Related to the focus theme:
literary workshop with bilingual high-school students from Bucharest (June 2, "Lãptãria Enache"); Café philosophique (June 5, "Lãptãria Enache" ) - discussions, lectures; two professional round tables on the French-Romanian publishing relationships and on book distribution both in France and Romania, with the participation of representatives from the Romanian Ministry of Culture and the French Foreign Affairs Ministry, book professionals (June 2 and 5, the Conference Hall); Francophone press exhibition organized by the International Union of French Press Journalists - Romanian section (the Conference Hall, 1st floor); second-hand French books (the Dalles Hall);
Selection from the Fair's program: 239 publishing events (book launches, introduction to authors, series and collections, etc.); Literary readings and the ASPRO Awards Gala, organized by the Association of Professional Writers in Romania ("Lãptãria Enache"); The "Book Barricade" (in front of the main entrance of the National Theater, June 2) - a manifestation of the book people against the current deadlock of the Romanian book market. The event was broadcast by the Radio Romania Actualitati program; the Press Trophy (awarded to three categories - print press, audio and video - for articles and reports concerning the Fair); "Culture and Business" - round table on the presentation of the catalogue BOOKS IN PRINT and the start of the auction for its financial support; "20 Years Since the CD-ROM Cultural Revolution", a workshop focusing on digital information.; Round table on the occasion of the foundation of the Romanian Booksellers'Union; the awards of the Romanian Publishers Union; "Miss Reading"; the Publishing Houses and Books Chart, several contests and raffles.

Exhibitions:
- the exhibition of Carl Henning Klaus "Une certaine vision de la France", photos of France as seen by a German artist, with several personal photo exhibitions, a well-known author of albums published by the Parkstone publishing house in Germany (Dalles Hall);
- exhibition of book illustrations and bibliophile books with works signed by students and graduates of the Bucharest Art University.

 

Media coverage of the Fair:

 112 articles in 17 publications; 10h 40min. of radio broadcasting; 3h 50 min. of TV broadcasting.
The Fair's Magazine, published in five issues by the Book Fair organizers jointly with the Association of Professional Writers in Romania - ASPRO and "Litere Nouã", the magazine of the Faculty of Letters of the Bucharest University, recorded the main events of the exhibition.
The web site of the fair www.artexpo.ro, includes information on the previous editions of the Fair, on the organizers, and practical information, in Romanian, French and English. The Fair's catalogue (published in Romanian, French and English), contains information on the participants, their activities and their booth location.
Important visits, personalities: The Fair was visited by political personalities - the Prime Minister, the Minister of Culture, other ministers, party leaders, members of Parliament, Romanian and French writers, publishers, managers in the cultural field, and other public figures. The unanimous impression was that young people prevailed among the categories of visitors.
Visitors: over 53,000
Entrance fee: 5.000 lei. Special invitations fee (free entrance during the Fair): 10,000 lei. For student groups: free entrance. For retired persons, army personnel and war veterans: 50% discount.