24th International Book Fair officially launches in Minsk today

8 февраля 2017

By Inna Pilevich: The 24th International Book Fair has officially launched in Minsk today, its participants welcomed by President Alexander Lukashenko.

This year’s large-scale event is dedicated to the 500th anniversary of Belarusian book printing. In this regard, the BelExpo exhibition hall features a printing machine made according to 16th century designs. Experts believe that such a device was used by printing pioneer Francysk Skaryna.

The 24th Minsk International Book Fair features participants from 31 countries from Azerbaijan to Ecuador, this year’s guest of honour being the United Kingdom. Representatives of British universities, the Francysk Skaryna Library and Museum in London and the British Council have arrived in Minsk to take part in the event.

To mark the 500th anniversary of Belarusian book printing, the National Library will present a 20-volume facsimile edition of Francysk Skaryna’s works.

The International Book Fair will be open for visitors from 10:00 till 19:00 throughout the week. Its event programme includes readings, quizzes, competitions, roundtable discussions and symposiums.