Bogota Int’l Book Fair Kicks Off with S. Korea as Guest of Honor

SEOUL, April 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The 2022 Bogota International Book Fair (FILBO) has opened in Colombia’s capital with South Korea as the guest of honor.

Launched in 1988, FILBO is the second-largest event of its kind in South America, where an average of 600,000 people visit every year. The event returned in person for the first time in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 34th edition kicked off in a ceremony held Tuesday (Colombia time) with attendance of about 200 figures from the two countries, including Colombian President Ivan Duque, Culture Minister Angelica Mayolo and her South Korean counterpart Hwang Hee.

South Korea was designated as the honorary guest of the event in celebration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties with the South American country.

South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Korean Publishers Association and several associated organizations will hold various exhibitions, seminars as well as literary and cultural events under the theme of “togetherness, convivencia” during the 14-day fair.

During the opening ceremony, Hwang stressed the relationship between the two countries formed through Colombia’s participation in the 1950-53 Korean War has led to “beautiful coexistence in various fields, such as politics, business and culture.”

“Although South Korea and Colombia are geographically far away, Korean readers have been sharing literature and art beyond times and places, reading books by Latin America’s best-known writer, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Moreno Duran, Colombia’s top novelist, while sipping a cup of Colombian coffee and appreciating Fernando Botero’s paintings,” he said in his speech to the ceremony.

“I hope today’s cooperation through books will lead to cooperation and exchanges across creative industries, such as cultural arts and tourism,” he said.

On display at the South Korean pavilion with about 3,000 square meters of floor space are about 100 Korean books that deal with the theme and major books by five major Korean authors, such as Eun Hee-kyung and Jeong You-jeong, along with their Spanish and English translations.

An anthology of literary works by nine select Korean authors, including the five, will be published.

There also will be exhibits of 20 kinds of “best” Korean book designs, and children’s books by internationally acclaimed Korean authors, such as Suzy Lee and Baek Hee-na.

Six Korean authors — Kim Kyung-uk, Eun Hee-kyung, Lee Moon-jae, Jung Young-su, Jeong You-jeong and Han Kang — will hold “book talk” sessions with Colombian authors to share their views on literature.

Four short films based on Korean literary works will also be screened at the fair.

Children’s book authors, including Suzy Lee, Park Yeoncheol, Kim Hyo-eun and Jung Jin-ho, and critics will meet South American readers through forums and public reading events.

Authors of non-literary books will attend seminars on various topics such as viruses and anthropocene; colonial urbanism; history of Korean and Colombian science; change of Korean women’s human rights and gender awareness; and history of cultural and literary exchanges between South Korea and Colombia.

The culture ministry also prepared various events to enhance the South American people’s awareness of Korea, such as performances of traditional Korean music and K-pop and handicraft lectures.

Visitors can also try the traditional Korean outfit of hanbok, take pictures of themselves with the traditional Korean house of hanok in the background and experience traditional Korean folk games.

(Yonhap)