Opening of the Beijing International Book Fair 2011
Op woensdagochtend 31 augustus is de Beijing International Book Fair officieel geopend. Nederland is dit jaar het gastland van deze boekenbeurs. Staatssecretaris Zijlstra sprak bij deze gelegenheid een speech uit.
• Your Royal Highness, dear colleague, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for your warm welcome, for the kind words of the previous speakers and for the beautiful song we just heard.
• It is an enormous honour for my country to be the host country at the Beijing International Book Fair. In this way we can show the world that even a small country can make significant artistic contributions. I am pleased that our Chinese hosts have to this end offered us such an ideal stage.
• This presentation constitutes the high point of a tradition that began back in 1993 when the Netherlands was the host country at the Buchmesse in Frankfurt. Since that time we have also been in the spotlight in Barcelona, Gothenburg, London, Tokyo, Turin and Paris. Beijing is the crowning achievement in a journey across the globe that started out almost 20 years ago.
• We would like to promote Dutch culture here, especially literature, with reciprocity as one of the major starting points. A valuable, sustainable relationship is never a one-way street.
• In reverse, we also consider it to be very important that the works of Chinese writers are translated into Dutch for Dutch readers. To encourage this we have invited several Chinese authors to the Manuscripta – Amsterdam Book Fair – on 4 and 5 September to speak to a Dutch audience.
• Some 30 Dutch writers, designers, comic-book artists and publishers have come here to represent our country at the Dutch pavilion. A pavilion that sets itself apart through its open, inviting character that is in keeping with the openness of Dutch society; a society which has for centuries been characterised by transparency, hospitality, tolerance for the views of others, freedom of speech and a culture of freedom of the press.
• In this way, the pavilion functions as an outpost of the Netherlands, as a true free port. It is a meeting place that supports both the distribution of Dutch books in China and the distribution of Chinese books in the Netherlands.
• Here, the Netherlands is presenting a fine overview of Dutch classics as well as recent Dutch fiction and non-fiction, children’s literature and books for young adults, and poetry, as well as shining the spotlight on a wonderful collection of books on architecture, design and graphic design.
• The Dutch host-country pavilion also houses various exhibitions: on the correspondence of Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch illustrators of children’s books Dick Bruna and Max Velthuis, comic-book artists, Robert van Gulik and Het Best verzorgde Nederlandse Boek (The Best Dutch Book Design).
• As I have said before, the Netherlands is a flat country; if you stand on a thin book you can virtually see the whole country. But these artists prove that even a country with neither hills nor mountains can have high peaks in its artistic landscape.
• This government desires to allocate a larger role to the economic importance of cultural policy. That is one reason why we are so happy about our ties with China, an emerging economic power with a strong cultural tradition. It is for good reason that China is one of the 6 non-European countries on which our international cultural policy is focused.
• Interest in Dutch literature continues to grow strongly among Chinese publishers. This host-country presentation is therefore not an end but rather a beginning. So, without further ado, I am proud to open the Beijing International Book Fair!
Thank you for your attention.