The 2004 Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) opened yesterday at Taipei's World Trade Center against a colorful Italian backdrop.
The six-day book fair features the art of publication design and aims at transforming Taiwan into a design center for the Chinese-language publishing industry, according to the exhibition organizer, Cite Publishing Ltd (城邦集團).
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The organizers invited Italian illustrators and designers to share their working experiences and interact with local readers in several seminars and workshops during the exhibition.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) attended yesterday's opening ceremony and awarded the first Golden Butterfly Award in recognition of local book and magazine designers and illustrators' achievements.
Chen said in his speech that the annual book exhibition provides a good platform for exchanging cultures, trade and emotions between Taiwan and other countries.
"Reading is the best way to acquire knowledge and is a great pleasure in life," Chen said.
"A western saying goes that a good leader must be a good reader. I believe that a person who has a love for books can learn from their predecessors' wisdom and experiences and avoid making mistakes," he said.
"Only people who enjoy reading can gain a rich imagination and creativity," Chen said.
The works of the 13 prize winners are displayed in the book fair's theme square.
This year, the exhibition gathered a total of 925 publishing houses, representing 51 countries, that set up 2,078 display booths in Exhibition Halls I and II.
Chairman of the TIBE Organizing Committee Jan Hung-tze (
The Italian Illustration Exhibition, the Italian Graphic Design Exhibition, the Top 10 Italian Design Exhibition for Visual Communication and A Special Exhibition of Andrea Branzi are the expositions highlighted at the book fair.
Hao Kuang-tsai (
Ferri told the Taipei Times that he is amazed at the scale of the exhibition and thought it was a great opportunity for two different cultures to meet.
Ferri said that he learned a lot about Asian religions during the creation of his recently published book, A Little Stone Buddha.
"I think it is important to provide something good to our children in a world that is filled with negative TV and movie images," Ferri said.
"It is a big job for illustrators to finish a book, but I think it is good for children's education," he said.
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