More than 700 exhibitors at the 30th edition of Siel
This article was automatically translated from HIBAPRESS, the Arabic version:
Hibapress
About 775 exhibitors representing 51 countries will participate in the 30th edition of the International Edition and Book Fair (SIEL), which will be held in Rabat from April 18 to 27, under the high patronage of King Mohammed VI.
This edition, which will bring together 311 direct and 464 indirect exhibitors, offers a wide selection of more than 100,000 titles, covering all fields of knowledge and literary genres.
Presented Monday in Rabat at a press conference, the 30th Siel will know the participation of many researchers, writers and creators, Moroccans and internationals, offering a dense daily programming with an average of 26 activities per day led by more than 762 speakers, through conferences, literary meetings, poetic evenings and presented of works.
Organized by the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, in partnership with the Rabat-Salé-Kenitra region, the wilaya of the region and the commune of Rabat, this cultural meeting provides tributes to emblematic figures of Moroccan creation, whose works have marked national culture and contributed to its influence.
The program will also include tributes to personalities of Arab culture, organized in partnership with ACLSO, in addition to the literary awards ceremony, including the Ibn Batouta prizes for travel literature and the national reading prize.
This edition will honor the emirate of Sharjah (United Arab Emirates), thus strengthening its positioning as a global cultural center, and its role in the promotion of Arab and Islamic culture.
In this sense, Sharjah offers a rich cultural, artistic and civilizational program, on culture, literature, arts and publishing, expressing its vision of the future of Arab culture, and the role of publishers, through a delegation of writers, intellectuals and Emirati publishers.
The authority of the Sharjah book will present events illustrating the dynamics of the Emiratic literary and creative scene, with the participation of more than 15 publishing houses, as well as the organization of round tables to strengthen cultural exchanges with Morocco, workshops for children, heritage shows, and Arab calligraphy sessions in collaboration with Moroccan calligraphs.
This year, the fair will celebrate Moroccans around the world who contribute to the influence of Moroccan identity beyond borders. Thus, a tribute will be paid to four striking figures in the history of Moroccan immigration, notably Abdellah Bounfour (Specialist in Amazigh Studies), the late Ahmed Ghazali (dramatist and museologist), Lalla Khiti Amina Benhachem Alaoui (first Moroccan journalist on Belgian radio-television), and late Driss Chraïbi, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of The publication of his novel “Les Boucs” in Paris.
The literary program of the Moroccan diaspora will also include a poetic evening with readings of poems in Arabic, Amazigh, French, English, Italian and Spanish. A retrospective of 10 pioneering films of Moroccan cinema on emigration/immigration is also planned.
Speaking on this occasion, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaïd, stressed that the choice of Sharjah as a guest of honor illustrates the commitment of the show to consecrate the values of Arab cultural cooperation and the importance of opening up to the other, highlighting the importance of strengthening the bonds of Moroccans in the world with their mother-country.
He noted that his departmental work department with partners, institutional, professional and associative, to make this 30th edition a major cultural event, helping to energize the Moroccan cultural scene and strengthen Rabat’s influence as a national and international cultural destination, even though the city is preparing to wear the title of world capital in 2026.
For his part, the president of the Council of the Moroccan Community abroad (CCME), Driss El Yazami, indicated that the celebration of the late Driss Chraïbi is able to discover his creative journey, through an exhibition of photos and testimonies retracing his life, saying that this tribute to the Moroccans of the world will make it possible to better understand the intellectual and cultural developments of the diaspora, in particular the feminine, compared to the first generation of migrants.
Like previous editions, a rich and varied program will be intended for children and students. It will include 712 activities, including 660 educational workshops in six spaces specially developed within “children’s space”. In addition, a dedicated space will highlight a printed collection of comics inspired by the famous series “Smurfs”.
