Culture and industry, Italy in the spotlight in Frankfurt

It is often almost difficult to conceive of culture in business terms from the outside. Yet this is indeed the case and there is no better context than the Frankfurt Buchmesse to understand this. Last year, 215,000 visitors and more than 4,000 exhibitors from almost 100 different countries came to Europe's most important book fair. These numbers give a good idea of the impact that five days at the fair can have on the global rights market. From tomorrow, Italy will secure in Frankfurt that exceptional showcase that has been missing for 36 years represented by the role of Guest of Honour. The Pavilion built for this occasion by studio Stefano Boeri Interiors will be a must-see for the many professionals attending the Buchmesse, becoming a great stage for the authors of the literary programme. The work we have done along the way has laid the foundations for this 76th edition of the Fair to be the start of a new 'miracle' for Italian publishing. And Italian publishers, it must be remembered, are already accustomed to miracles: in fact, although our language has a limited catchment area compared to great powers such as English, Spanish and Portuguese, the most recent data from the Aie studies office show a positive trend in the sale of rights abroad, which have risen from 1,800 in 2001 to 7,889 in 2022. Italian book exports are driven by the success of children's and young adult books, thus providing a picture of the publishing market capable of intercepting new reading needs. In Frankfurt we will celebrate this 'locomotive' by bringing to the Pavilion the exhibition Young pencils between illustration and comics, curated by the Drosselmeier Academy and organised by BolognaFiere/Bologna Children's Book Fair/BolognaBookPlus. The Buchmesse, on the other hand, has always been a sort of trapdoor open to the future so much so that back in 1997 it elected the impact of the digital revolution on the book market as the main theme of that edition. This event is the same every year but different, faithful to its rituals but eager for change. Perhaps this is why 'Roots in the Future', the motto chosen for the Italian participation, appealed so much to the German hosts. In the end, the splendid and somewhat unexpected coexistence of ebooks and paper books is proof that precisely in the publishing sector there is no incompatibility between tradition and innovation. Another proof of this lies in the ability of many small and medium-sized publishers to seize the new opportunities offered by e-commerce. In the meetings of the literary and professional programme - curated by Aie - that we will be bringing to Frankfurt, there will be ample space for reflection on the role of technology for the survival and growth of publishing enterprises, giving due credit to a path that goes from the fifteenth-century typography of Aldo Manuzio to the season of the 'digital natives'. Another characteristic of the Italian programme is the absence of value hierarchies between literary genres. After all, this is also the spirit that has helped to make Frankfurt the most important book fair, where 'it does not matter which sector of the book world you are interested in. Here it is'.

I hope that our participation as Guest of Honour at the Buchmesse can also serve, in a small way, to remind national public opinion and the relevant institutions that the book world is not only made up of a cultural component, but also has an industrial character. Those who differentiate between the two aspects, deeming the former 'noble' and the latter 'undeserving', are wrong. Instead, the Buchmesse, which is primarily a place of business, succeeds in enhancing both souls of publishing, overcoming a prejudice that is unfortunately stronger in Italy than elsewhere. Italy Guest of Honour will be able to demonstrate to the most sceptical that where there is an exchange of rights, there is also an exchange of ideas. We will also do so visually with the Pavilion designed by Stefano Boeri Interiors and inspired by a typical Italian piazza, a place for community and sharing but also for negotiation. Just like the Buchmesse.

Extraordinary Commissioner of the Government, for the coordination of activities related to Italy's participation as the country of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2024.