ADIBF 2023 – Abu Dhabi International Book Fair
The Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is a fixed date in our trade fair calendar for several years now. Moreover it is the fastest growing literary event in the Middle East and North Africa. Together with our two partner publishers, Faksimile Verlag and Eikon Editores from Spain, we took part in the book fair from May 22 to 28, 2023.
Ceremonial handover
It was a special honour for us to personally present His Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation (ZayedCHF), and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council) with a fine art leave from our series “Masterpieces of Islamic Book Illumination” as a gift during the opening ceremony of the book fair. The handover was carried out by our publisher Charlotte Kramer together with the German ambassador Alexander Schönfelder and in the presence of the director of the Frankfurt Book Fair Jürgen Boos and the deputy director Claudia Kaiser.
German Pavilion
As in previous years, we were present with our own booth, but also integrated into the German Pavilion, which gave us an excellent platform for intercultural exchange on site.
Chess connects
Our own stand was always very well attended during the seven days of the fair, not least because of the high-quality Italian designer chess board. Thanks to Treccani publishing house we were able to present this beautiful board game. This handcrafted limited edition delighted young and old alike, and it was fascinating to watch people from different cultures demonstrate their strategic skills and how they just couldn’t get enough of playing chess.
Book experience: immersive & innovative
Another trade fair highlight was undoubtedly our fascinating augmented reality app Living Manuscripts! With this innovative application we manage to bring manuscripts to life and create a new immersive dimension of the book experience. The visitors admired particularly the recitation of the Blue Quran, which reproduces the sura al-baqara (“The Heifer”). More details about our app can be found on the Living Manuscripts website.
We say thank you
Summing up the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair was an enriching experience of artistic books, personal contacts, and cross-cultural exchange. Hence we are grateful for the valuable encounters and discussions we had at the fair and would like to thank our partner publishers, Faksimile Verlag and Eikon Editores, who once again accompanied us to Abu Dhabi, thank you! We are already looking forward to the next book fair together!
