(From Left) Doris Wang, Chair of TBFF, Alice Wang, Director of the Department of
Humanities and Publications, MOC., Kevin Chapman, Project Director of 2015 TIBE
NZ Guest of Honour and Si'alei van Toor, Director of the New Zealand Commerce
and Industry Office in Taipei.
The 2015 Taipei International Book Exhibition
(TIBE) will feature New Zealand as the Guest of Honour chosen by our sponsor,
the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan and organiser, Taipei Book Fair Foundation
(TBFF). The New Zealand National Pavilion will incorporate a wealth of Māori
elements in its architectural design and will showcase the glorious art and
literature of their culture.
Through a series of author meet-ups and
performances planned for the event, to be held 11-16 February at the Taipei
World Trade Center, New Zealand’s unique culture and history will be introduced
to local readers, the organiser said 22 December at a media conference in
Taipei City.
“By designating New Zealand the TIBE Guest of
Honour, Taiwan has established a bridge to the southern hemisphere,” said Alice
WANG, director of the Ministry of Culture’s Department of Humanities and
Publications, which oversees the operation of the book fair.
Ties between the two countries have
strengthened substantively with the signing of the ANZTEC economic
collaboration agreement in 2013, Wang said, adding that the ministry has teamed
up with New Zealand to launch a co-authoring project. Both sides have three
graphic novelists taking part in the initiative; they will take up residence in
each other’s country and display the initial results during the event.
Si'alei van Toor, director of the New Zealand
Commerce and Industry Office in Taipei, said that she hopes the book fair next
year will strengthen bilateral cultural ties and show the people of Taiwan the
rich culture of her home country.
"New Zealand and Taiwan have a lot in
common. We're both island economies with strong links to our indigenous
peoples," she said.
TBFF Chair Doris WANG expressed her gratitude
for the presence of Kevin Chapman, director of the New Zealand Guest of Honour
project, at the 22 December media event. She said she expects the annual book
festival to garner satisfying results by stimulating Taiwan’s international
participation, as well as overall cultural, economic, educational and political
development.
“Themed ‘Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open
Books’, the Guest of Honour project underscores the open-minded creativity of
New Zealand,” Chapman said, “just like an open book that invites the reader to
sample the joy of reading therein.”
World Architecture News Award winner Andrew
Patterson, who drew his inspiration from “Tokotoko,” a Māori traditional
walking stick, designed the New Zealand theme pavilion.
In Māori tradition, the stick is a symbol of
authority and status for the speaker in oral literature. Modelled on three
joined Tokotoko sticks, the pavilion represents a space of dialogues on equal
footing between the speaker and the reader, between Māori and non-Māori
cultures, and between New Zealand and Taiwan.
Moreover, it is a tribute to literature, as
the pavilion is constructed mainly out of paper, one of the most essential and
important building blocks in literature and publication.
After completion, the pavilion will resemble
an archipelago of three 1.8-meter-tall paper islands, surrounding the main
exhibition area. The surface of these paper islands will be adorned with
laser-cut Māori totems with a modern twist. The enclosed space will house the
main Guest of Honour activities, including author meet-ups and Māori dance
performances.
A total of 17 New Zealand publishers will
participate in the theme pavilion, exhibiting publications on a diverse range
of subjects, including architecture, art, culture, fiction, history, science
and children’s books. These include several professional educational
publishers, who will showcase books dedicated to children’s education, English
learning, schooling and upbringing.
In addition, it will feature 22 authors from
the country, including 2 illustrators: Gavin Bishop and Sarah Wilkins. Their
works will be featured in The New Zealand Children’s Illustration Exhibition at
the Children’s Book Pavilion in Hall 3, along with four other NZ illustrators,
including Robyn Belton, Donovan Bixley, Andrew Burdan, and Rowan Sommerset.
The 23rd TIBE will present a Kiwi-themed
feast, rich not only in literary offerings but also cultural exchange. Members
of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, Ngā Kete Tuku Iho, will
perform Māori dances twice almost daily during the book fair. For two
sessions—one in the morning and one in the afternoon—from 12 Feb to 16 Feb,
they will introduce Māori culture through fascinating dance narratives, which
incorporate greetings, challenges and battles, as well as the oral storytelling
tradition.
Sculpture is an essential part of Māori
culture, too. The Guest of Honour pavilion will also feature a master who will
carve a wood sculpture on site during the fair.
As Taiwan’s indigenous tribes and Māori share
several significant characteristics, the theme pavilion will also join hands
with Taiwan’s Council of Indigenous Peoples to shed light on the
ocean-spanning, boundary-crossing links.
The New Zealand Guest of Honour Programme is
sponsored by Creative New Zealand, Education New Zealand, Publishers
Association of New Zealand, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Copyright Licensing New Zealand,
Book Systems International and Te Puni Kōkiri. The programme is with the
support of New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office Taipei and has partnership
with Council of Indigenous Peoples, Taiwan and New Zealand Book Council.
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