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The colourful Hong Kong Pavilion is back at the Bologna Children's Book Fair (BCBF) in Italy this year. More than 1 000 outstanding books, including pop-up books specially produced for the event, are demonstrating Hong Kong's state-of-the-art printing technologies and competitive edge in bilingual publishing to worldwide buyers and readers from March 30 to April 2.
This is the second time that the Hong Kong Pavilion has been set up at the BCBF, after the huge success of the first participation last year. Under the theme "Hong Kong's Inspiring Creativity", the Pavilion groups more than 40 exhibitors, including 26 publishers, 18 printers and three electronic publishers, and enables them to explore business opportunities with overseas buyers.
One of the highlights is the first-ever showcase of more than 30 specially selected pop-up books from Hong Kong, which provides a comprehensive overview of the extraordinary skills and creativity in this area, highlighting various illustration and pop-up techniques.
Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Publishing Federation and the Hong Kong Printers Association, the Hong Kong Pavilion at the BCBF 2015 is part of the Soaring Creativity - Hong Kong Pavilion 2014-15 project, which is sponsored by Create Hong Kong. The project is staging the Hong Kong Pavilion at five major international book fairs around the world, namely the South China Book Festival in Guangzhou, the Beijing International Book Fair, the Frankfurt Book Fair, the Taipei International Book Exhibition and the BCBF.
The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) is supporting the Hong Kong Pavilion as part of its 50th anniversary celebration programme this year. The Deputy Representative of HKETO, Brussels, Miss Alice Choi, officiated at the opening yesterday (March 30) together with the Exhibition Director of fair organiser BolognaFiere, Mr Marco Momoli. With the support of HKETO, Brussels, guests could sample freshly made Hong Kong-style milk tea, one of the inventory items of intangible cultural heritage of Hong Kong, as well as classic Hong Kong snacks and savouries. These will be served throughout the book fair to offer readers a taste of Hong Kong.
After the fair, all of the Hong Kong publications will be donated to the University for Foreigners of Siena to promote cultural exchanges between Hong Kong and Italy. The University for Foreigners of Siena is a public university specialising in the study of Italian language and culture as well as intercultural contact and foreign languages. It is also a meeting point where one can encounter languages and cultures from all over the world, and where one can learn about different multicultural realities. At the donation ceremony held immediately after the opening ceremony, Professor Carla Bagna of the University for Foreigners of Siena accepted the donation on behalf of the university.
For more information on the Soaring Creativity project, please visit the project website: www.creative-bookfairs.com.
Ends/Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:05
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