The Ukrainian Book Institute will present the national collective stand at the Leipzig Book Fair, Germany, on April 27–30. Willing to support Ukraine during the war with russia, the Leipzig Book Fair organizers provided the D307 stand with the area of 110 square meters free of charge.
The main theme of the Ukrainian stand is the Destroyed Library exposition of furniture from destroyed libraries of Ukraine. The slogan “Sensitive Content” draws attention of the international community to destroyal of Ukrainian libraries due to russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“At the Leipzig Book Fair, the UBI will present the Destroyed Library exposition, having been presented for the first time at this year’s London Book Fair. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have been living amidst the reality marked as “Sensitive Content” in social media. We believe our duty is to spread the truth about our reality, and our goal is not to impress those who support us, but to give evidence on russians’ everyday crimes against Ukrainians and Ukrainian culture. Having this new experience of war, we write and publish books. The project of Daria Bila and Sophia Hupalovska at the Ukrainian stand features new books from Ukraine along with furniture from Ukrainian libraries destroyed by russian shootings. Through the white paint softening the reality, one can see library furniture and books disfigured by the war. We soften our reality in order to move on, but it is speaking to us, including through new Ukrainian books. The truth on the war available for acceptance and discussion should be voiced as long as Ukraine undergoes russia’s colonial expansion,” says Oleksandra Koval, director of the Ukrainian Book Institute.
The Ukrainian program will be presented with the support of the Goethe-Institut Ukraine.
“The Leipzig Book Fair is an important platform for our Ukrainian partners to present their culture, media and publishing industry. For over a year, they have been making an important contribution to withstand brutal aggression against Ukraine. We really appreciate the fair’s willingness to give voice to Ukrainians, and the Goethe-Institut has the opportunity to present its special program “Remember / Reflect / Rebuild” where Ukrainian and German intellectuals will have four days to discuss issues on which we are still focused after a year of the full-scale invasion. It is crucial to instigate reinterpretation of Ukraine’s history, society and culture and lay the foundation for the perception of this big and important country as an independent and dynamic European neighbor, which it in fact has always been. The program has been made possible thanks to the cooperation with the Leipzig Book Fair, Federal Agency for Civic Education, Ukrainian Book Institute, Book Arsenal, Ukrainian Institute and Vienna-based Institute for Human Sciences,” says Fabian Mühlthaler, director of the Goethe-Institut Ukraine.
Around 200 titles at the stand will be presented by seven Ukrainian publishing houses, in particularCzas Zmin Inform, Fabula, Czas Maistriv, Summit-Knyha, Bilka, Ukrainian Atelier of Culture and Sport, and ArtEk. During the fair, the retail sales will take place so that visitors can buy Ukrainian books they like.
In the frame of the programof the Leipzig Book Fair, Ukraine will be presented by the journalist and writer Sabina Adler; writer Sofia Andrukhovych; art critic, journalist, curator and translator Kateryna Botanova; translator Nelya Vakhovska; film director Oksana Karpovych; cultural manager and translator Yevhenia Lopata; writer and volunteer Andriy Lyubka; translator and journalist Kateryna Mishchenko; deputy director of the Ukrainian Book Institute Olena Odynoka; art manager and contemporary art curator Olesia Ostrovska-Lyuta; poet, journalist and human rights activist Ihor Pomerantsev; poet, translator, philosopher, translator and culture theorist Ovidiu Ţichindeleanu; editor and literary critic Natasha Freindel.
The national stand of Ukraine and its program of events will be presented with joint efforts of the Leipzig Book Fair, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media, Neustart Kultur, Ukrainian Book Institute, Goethe-Institut Ukraine, Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Embassy of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Germany, Ukrainian Institute, Book Arsenal, Meridian Czernowitz Publishing House, Vienna-based Institute for Human Sciences and Federal Agency for Civic Education, Germany.
