Representative of the Netherlands Office Taipei Guido Tielman (fourth right), Deputy Culture Minister Lee Ching-hwi (fifth right) and other officials pose for a photo at a press conference in Taipei Wednesday.
Taipei, Jan. 18 (CNA) The annual Taipei International Book Exhibition (TiBE), which opens next month, will showcase the Netherlands and offer opportunities to hear from prominent Dutch and international authors about important issues, according to the organizers.
The exhibition will include books in a wide range of genres, such as biography, fiction, horror, children's reading and comics, and will also feature workshops and keynote speeches by international writers, the Taipei Book Fair Foundation said.
Some of the topics will include the broadening of social and cultural recognition of Indigenous peoples, LBGTQ+ issues, immigration, and the efforts in the Netherlands and Taiwan to advance tolerance and free speech, curator Jan Knikker said in a pre-recorded video.
Knikker is the director of strategy at the Dutch architectural firm MVRDV, which designed the Netherlands's three pavilions for the Taipei exhibition that will be held Feb. 20-25 at Taipei World Trade Center, Exhibition Hall I.
The three pavilions, built with recyclable materials, represent the Netherlands' contemporary literary scene, its vibrant children's literature, and the shared past of the Netherlands and Taiwan, the MVRDV said, referring to the fact that Taiwan was once colonized by the Dutch.
Visitors will be able to see artifacts, documents, facsimiles, and other items that highlight the 400-year connection between Taiwan and the Netherlands, from the first meeting in 1624 between the Dutch people and the early inhabitants of Taiwan to the current trade and cultural exchanges between the two sides, Knikker said.
In addition, there will be three "activity zones" for workshops, forums, and children's activities at the Netherlands pavilion, according to the MVRDV.
At a TiBE press conference Wednesday, Dutch Representative to Taiwan Guido Tielman said the activities at the exhibition will be the first in a series of events planned by his office this year to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Dutch people's first arrival in Taiwan.
"Through the work of Dutch authors, illustrators and publishers, we want to share with the Taiwanese audience of book lovers some of the values that we so cherish in the Netherlands -- free speech and the right for writers to express themselves freely, unfettered and uncensored," he said.
"This is where we find common ground with Taiwan, itself a staunch proponent and a beacon of free speech," Tielman added.
Deputy Minister of Culture Lee Ching-hwi (李靜慧) said at the press event that the book fair will be a timely occasion for a "cultural reunion" between Taiwan and the Netherlands, as it was the Dutch East India Company that put Taiwan on the global map when it arrived on the island 400 years ago.
The best way to understand the historical and cultural significance and context of that historical event is through extensive reading, she said.
More broadly, the TiBE will highlight activities and speeches on a wide range of topics, including creative writing, poetry translation, democratic values, and the role of sex throughout Western history, according to the schedule provided by the Taipei Book Fair Foundation.
A total of 52 prominent authors from around the world are expected to participate in the exhibition, including Dutch writers Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer and Maxim Februari, Japanese children's book authors Taro Gomi and Tatsuya Miyanish, Hong Kong author Albert Tam (譚劍), French illustrator Florent Chavouet, and German author Bijan Moini, the foundation said.
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