There’s a buzz in the air at the World Trade Center exhibition hall in Taipei, as crews work to prepare stands and displays before tomorrow’s official opening of the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE).
New Zealand’s Guest of Honour stand is taking shape – and how. The space for the busy seminar programme is framed by three giant, stylised tokotoko (orator’s sticks) constructed in reinforced paper, around which publishers have now filled their shelves with a wide range of New Zealand books.
The exhibition has drawn representatives of 17 New Zealand publishers, along with 22 authors, a Wellington Mayoral delegation, and representatives of the Publishers Association of New Zealand, Creative New Zealand, Education New Zealand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and trade, and the local New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office (NZCIO) Taipei.
At a breakfast for the NZ delegation this morning at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, NZCIO Director Si’alei Van Toor emphasised the high promotional value for New Zealand of being this year’s Guest of Honour at TIBE.
NZCIO will also host a Welcome Dinner this evening, which will bring together leading Taiwanese government, cultural and publishing representatives with their Kiwi counterparts.
