Riyadh International Book Fair
| Riyadh International Book Fair | |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Genre | Multi-genre |
| Frequency | Annually, in mid-March |
| Venue | Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center |
| Location(s) | [[Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center] |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Organized by | Ministry of Culture |
| Website | https://riyadhbookfair.org.sa/ |
The Riyadh International Book Fair is the biggest of its kind in the Middle East, and one of the largest book fairs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.[1] Public attendance is high, and many Arab publishers make around 70% of their annual sales at the fair.[2] The fair is organized by the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information,[3] and is an important annual cultural event in Saudi Arabia.[4] The fair lasts 11 days.[2][clarification needed]
The book fair has become a topic of political controversy, praised for providing access to useful books and supporting culture and society, and criticized for insufficient, excessive, or inappropriate censorship and for supporting gender mixing.[5][6]
Activities[edit]
The fair is an opportunity for the people of Riyadh and Saudi Arabia to meet writers, poets and intellectuals.[3] On the sidelines of the fair, many workshops, seminars and lectures are held.[3]
The fair is aimed to provide freer access to literature, and a large selection is available,[7] including some books that are not usually available in Saudi Arabia.[8] Protests about material at the fair are common.[7] Authorities pre-approve the books[2], and have sometimes confiscated books during the fair. Publishers say that they will be banned from the Saudi market if they speak openly about books being banned.[7]
The book fair has become a topic of political controversy, praised for providing access to useful books and supporting culture and society, and criticized for insufficient, excessive, or inappropriate censorship and for supporting gender mixing.[5][6]
Religious police presence and restrictions on visitors[edit]
The fair has been attended by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Hai’a, religious police), who enforce gender segregation.[9] Men have been prevented from getting their books signed by female authors.[7][9] A female panelist participated in a panel by intercom, which disconcerted a co-panelist from outside Saudi Arabia.[10] There have been some restrictions on admission: some fair days have been men-only,[11] others "families-only", meaning that single men may not enter;[8] men may also be prevented from entering if their hair is too long.[7]
History[edit]
2004[edit]
The 2004 fair (advertised as the tenth[12]) had 300 publishers from 14 (mostly Arab) countries; there was one Iraqi publisher.[13]
2006[edit]
The 2006 fair[14] was held in the Riyadh Exhibition Center.[15][better source needed] Some days were restricted to "families-only" attendance, meaning that single men were not allowed to enter.[10]
Copies of the novel Banat al-Riyadh (Girls of Riyadh) were unexpectedly absent; it was not clear whether it had been withdrawn or had sold out, although a representative of th publisher said it had not sold out. The Dolphin’s Trip and Terrorist Number 20 were banned, while the New Testament and Dialogue with an Atheist (published 1974[citation needed]) were on display for the first time.[16] Turki Al-Hamad's novel Reeh Al-Jannah was also missing.[10]
The fair was disrupted by hecklers who shouted down a member of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia[17] (Dr. Mohammed Al-Zulfa[10]) speaking at the fair.[17]
2007[edit]
The 2007 fair was held in the same location as the 2006 one, and the topics selected for the cultural programme were described as less controversial.[18]
In 2007, the "families-only" days were dropped. Three evenings were open for men only; the rest were open to all. The ministry and the religious police negotiated this change.[18][17]
2008[edit]
The 2008 fair was held at the Riyadh International Exhibition Center in Morouj Dist.[14]
The National Society for Human Rights offered a report on the state of human rights in Saudi Arabia.[14]
2009[edit]
In 2009, the fair moved to the much larger[9] Riyadh International Exhibition Center on King Abdullah Road,[11] and re-organized the book sections.[9] It kicked off with a lecture on the "Formations of Brazilian Culture" by Roque De Barros Laria.[9]
For books from non-Saudi publishing houses, prices were up 20-25%, due to the costs of transportation, rental of space at the fair, and other factors. Some books that had previously been permitted were banned, and some previously banned were permitted.[9] Due to thefts in previous years, visitors were required to show the receipts for their books on the way out.[9]
On Wednesday, male writers Abdu Khal, Abdullah Al-Thabet and Me’jeb Al-Zahrani complained that they were verbally abused and taken to the religious police center after they asked fair security guards to get a book by female writer Halemah Mathfar signed by her. They demanded a public apology.[9] In 2009, saleswomen were been banned from the hall on men's days.[11]
2012[edit]
On March 11th 2012, five days after the 11-day fair opened, 70 Saudi clerics issued a fatwa against book fairs. They complained that the fair was uncensored, and thus allowed perverted literature which encourages ideological anarchy, including texts undermining the truths of Islam, and discussing deviant and pagan religions, sex, and various abominations. They also criticized the fair for being mixed-gender.[5]
2013[edit]
The Arab Publishers Association unanimously resolved to boycott the 2013 fair, citing the exclusion of Syrian publishers from the fair, but also the price of stall space and barcode system installation.[19]
2014[edit]
420 books were banned at the 2014 fair, and 10,000 copies of them were confiscated. The bans were described as prompting readers to download the banned books.[20]
In 2014, the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish's books were confiscated during the fair, after the stall was surrounded by protesters. There were also complaints from religious police and allegations that the poems contained blasphemous passages.[7] Similar actions were taken against works by well-known poets Badr Shaker al-Sayyab, Abdul Wahab al-Bayati, and Muin Bseiso.[21]
The Arab Network for Research and Publishing, whose publishing focusses on Saudi Arabia and political Islam, arriving at the former location of their stall on the Friday morning of the 2014 fair, found that its books had been confiscated and its stall replaced by another. The books had been pre-approved and sold in previous years; the reversal of the decision was attributed to the tenser political situation, especially as relating to the Muslim Brotherhood. The publisher was reportedly permanently banned from the fair.[2]
Azmi Bishara's books were also banned amid escalating tensions with Qatar.[21]
2017[edit]
On-demand printing was available at the fair in 2017, with an electronic copyright permitting system.[22]
Youssef Zeidan's books were confiscated midway through the 2017 fair, which he attributed to his mention of the disputed Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir. 12 students of the Sekolah Seni Malaysia Johor Art School, performing a Malaysian folk dance performance, were interrupted by a heckler; other spectators told the heckler to leave the students alone. The religious police took prompt action and interrupted the performance.[23]
2018[edit]
The 2018 fair saw more than 500 Arab and international publishing houses participate.[24] The fair displayed over 60,000 books.[25]
In 2018[26] and 2019,[6][27] the Simon Wiesenthal Center complained that the fair sold anti-semitic texts, including Hitler's Mein Kampf. They said that "Of the six Arab Book Fairs we annually monitor, antisemitic texts are sadly the most numerous in Riyadh", and asked the Saudi government to apply the same measures to "all forms of hate, on the same level as offences to Islam".[6]
2019[edit]
The 2019 fair took place at Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center.[28] The total area of the venue is 7,000 sq.m.[29] 900 publishing houses from 30 countries, and over 500,000 books, were present.[30] The fair was attended by more than 500,000 people.[24]
During one of these panel discussions at the 2019 fair, Anas al-Mazrou, a lecturer at King Saud University, spoke of the detention of women’s rights activists in Saudi Arabia, and was arrested.[31]
2020[edit]
The Saudi Ministry of Culture has announced that the 2020 fair will be held on April 2 to April 11.[30]
Guest of Honour[edit]
| Year | Guest |
|---|---|
| 2019 | Bahrain[32] |
| 2018 | UAE[33] |
| 2017 | Malasiya[34] |
| 2016 | Greece[35] |
| 2015 | South Africa |
| 2014 | Spain |
| 2013 | Morocco |
| 2012 | Sweden |
| 2011 | India |
External Links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Riyadh International Book Fair 2019 to Feature over 900 Publishing Houses". Asharq AL-awsat. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Omran, Ahmed Al (12 March 2014). "Edgy Saudi Bans Local Publisher". WSJ.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Riyadh International Book Fair March 2018". Saudi Shamil. 2018-02-15. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
- ↑ "Over 60,000 Titles on Display at Riyadh International Book Fair". CIC - Saudi Arabia. 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Saudi Clerics Criticize Book Fairs, Culture Events in the Country". MEMRI.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Mein Kampf and antisemitic books found at Saudi Arabia book fair". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Flood, Alison (14 March 2014). "Saudi book fair bans 'blasphemous' Mahmoud Darwish works after protest". The Guardian.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Exclusive: Riyadh International Book Fair". Saudi Jeans. 25 February 2006.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 "Saudi Gazette - High prices, Hai'a dampen spirits at Riyadh Book Fair". web.archive.org. 27 May 2009.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "Saudi Jeans". Saudi Jeans.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Al Omran, Ahmed (7 March 2009). "Riyadh Book Fair '09". Saudi Jeans.
- ↑ "Not Fair!". Saudi Jeans. 19 September 2004.
- ↑ "The Book Fair Report". Saudi Jeans. 30 September 2004.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Al Omran, Ahmed (9 March 2008). "Riyadh International Book Fair: Could Be Better". Saudi Jeans.
- ↑ "Riyadh International Book Fair". Khaled rambles. 17 February 2006.
- ↑ Al-awsat, Asharq. "Middle-east Arab News Opinion". eng-archive.aawsat.com (in українська).
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "Saudi Arabia: 2007 Riyadh International Book Fair, Ahmadinejad's Visit to the Kingdom, and More · Global Voices". Global Voices. 7 March 2007.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Saudi Jeans: Let's Meet and Talk". web.archive.org. 15 November 2007.
- ↑ Saad, Mohammed (Tuesday 29 Jan 2013). "Arab Publishers Association boycotts Riyadh Book Fair - Arab - Books". Ahram Online. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ "Saudi Arabia: 420 books banned at Riyadh International Book Fair". Freemuse. 18 March 2014.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Saudi bans books at fair in wide-ranging crackdown - Region - World". Ahram Online. AFP. Sunday 16 Mar 2014. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ "Print your book at the Riyadh exhibition in 120 seconds". english.alarabiya.net.
- ↑ "Saudi Arabia: Books banned, performance interrupted at book fair". Freemuse.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Cultural minister: Riyadh book fair to kick off in April". Arab News. 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
- ↑ "Over 60,000 Titles on Display at Riyadh International Book Fair". CIC - Saudi Arabia. 2018-03-15. Retrieved 2018-12-29.
- ↑ "Saudi Book Fair Called Out for Display of Antisemitic Titles, Including 'Mein Kampf'". Algemeiner.com.
- ↑ "Wiesenthal Centre to Saudi Media Minister: "Ban Antisemitic Hate at the Riyadh International Book Fair"". www.wiesenthal.com.
- ↑ "Cultural minister: Riyadh book fair to kick off in April". Arab News. 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
- ↑ "More than 350,000 visited Riyadh International Book Fair | الإخبارية". alekhbariya.net. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 "Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Culture Announces Riyadh Book Fair Plans for 2020". About Her. 2019-07-16. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
- ↑ Safi, Michael (4 November 2019). "Saudi Arabia: arrests of dissidents and torture allegations continue". The Guardian.
- ↑ "Riyadh book fair opens with Bahrain as guest of honor". Arab News. 2019-03-14. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- ↑ "Riyadh book fair starts 10-day run". Arab News. 2019-03-12. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- ↑ "Malaysia Guest-of-Honor at Riyadh International Book Fair 2017". Arab News. 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- ↑ "Al-Toraifi opens Riyadh Book Fair 2016". Arab News. 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
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