/ARTS WEEKLY/ VENEZUELA: Book Fair Returns Amidst Uncertainties

By Humberto Márquez Reprint | | Print |

Humberto Márquez

CARACAS, Jun 3 2003 (IPS) - Writers, booksellers and publishers from Argentina, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, Spain and the host country Venezuela are celebrating the return of the International Book Fair here, after three years’ absence due to location and organisational problems. But this year’s event is not free of its own tensions.

Among the literary stars invited to give some shine to the fair are Colombians Carmen Barvo, Efraín Medina, Enrique Serrano, Guillermo González Uribe, Jorge Franco, Juan Diego Mejía and Mario Mendoza; Cuba’s David Mitrani; Spaniards Antonio Jiménez Millán and Luisa Castro; and Raúl Rojas Soriano, of Mexico.

This is the first of the Venezuelan book fairs to be held outdoors, in a structure made especially for the occasion, and made to be dismantled and reused.

Seminars and conferences are taking place in the Fine Arts Museum, the National Art Gallery and the Museum of Science, neighbouring Los Caobos Park in Caracas.

The fair, which got underway May 30, covers 17 hectares, with booths and displays holding an estimated 30,000 books.

The last International Book Fair of Venezuela was held in December 2000, but was not repeated until this year due to problems in organising the event and securing a site.

This tenth edition of the fair has seen its own problems, however, as there is tense debate amongst Venezuelan authors, who have denounced censorship of some of their cohort.

Authors who are opposed to the Hugo Chávez government maintain that the state-run National Institute of Culture, on which the fair depends, rejected the participation of some writers and categorised them according to their supposed political leanings.

But Lourdes Fierro, director of the National Book Centre, denied such claims, telling IPS that the position of the governmental entity "is and always has been one of understanding, plurality and tolerance."

The authors say, furthermore, that the invitation extended to some of those who are considered sympathetic to the opposition is intended to give a democratic sheen to an event that involved a restrictive process in selecting the Venezuelan participants.

Ana Teresa Torres, author of "Doña Inés contra el olvido" (Doña Inés against oblivion) and "Los últimos espectadores del acorazado Potemkin" (The last spectators of the Potemkin), among other titles, publicly declared her refusal to participate in events like the fair that are organised by the Chávez government.

"Culture lends itself very well to a masquerade. Invite a pair of writers or artists know to be of the opposition and the democratic table is served, particularly for the foreign guests," commented Torres.

On another front, Israel Centeno, a writer who organised five of the past international book fairs, commented that the fair aims to hide the deficiencies in promoting and disseminating reading and the culture of books in Venezuela.

"We can’t talk about an international book fair when there is no cash for the industry, when there are no new publications in the bookshops, or paper to print them," Centeno told IPS, in reference to the currency exchange control system in place, which currently grants dollars only to pay for school texts.

"There is a double standard coming from the state agencies, because if they wanted to foment reading and the publishing industry they shouldn’t be undermining the entrepreneur who produces and imports books," said Centeno.

But the predominant feeling from the perspective of the publishers is that the International Book Fair of Venezuela must return to its annual schedule, keeping the pace of other Latin American countries.

"The fairs, as an event dedicated to books themselves, serves to promote reading. There are still many people for whom reading is not part of daily life," commented María Elena Rodríguez, representative of Planeta publishing, in a conversation with IPS.

"It is easier to go to a fair than to a bookshop, because at the fair there are discounts and other attractions, like conferences or autographs from the authors," she added.

But Rodríguez noted that the Venezuelan fair suffers from its "wandering", it does not have an established site, as other fairs do, such as Bogotá or Guadalajara (Mexico), nor is it held at the same time each year.

An established location and annual date "would give a sense of stability and consolidation to ensure a successful book fair," said the publisher.