The cultural event, that all of us had been waiting for and talking about for the past few weeks, is coming to an end. Yes, I am referring to the Jeddah Book Fair.
About a month ago, I wrote in detail my expectations of the fair i.e. how I imagined it and wanted it to be. Today, however, I am in a better position to compare my imaginations with the reality. It proved to be an exciting experience that surpassed all our expectations. It would be wrong to say that it was perfect but hopefully the organizers of the event will overcome some shortcomings in the next episode of the event.
In general, the levels of organization, availability of reputable publishing houses and books of different genres were all moderately acceptable. However, diving a bit deeper into details, we can come up with an ample list of lessons learned and points we should consider in future.
Let us start with the location. At the first glance, it looked like it was a symbolic selection. Jeddah is known as the Bride of the Red Sea and it was nice to hold such an important event by the seaside. I have nothing against the symbolism involved in the selection of the venue but it was a bit crowded. Corniche is one of the favorite haunts of Jeddawis due to which the routes leading to the fair’s venue mostly remained clogged with traffic. It is very difficult to find a suitable parking near the venue. One had to park his vehicle far away and forced to walk all the way to the exhibition’s venue.
This particular point leads me to say that Jeddah lacks a proper location to hold big events. Even the old Jeddah Center for Events is located in the middle of one of the most crowded intersections of the city. Maybe it is about time we think of constructing a new event center in the city, a place that is specifically designed for this purpose with separate entry and exit points.
Now, let us talk about the content of the fair. The accompanying cultural and book-signing events were a bit weak. None of the big names in the local or Arabic literary world were invited to talk or to sign their books. It is certainly a good idea to give aspiring and forthcoming writers a chance to face the crowd but popular authors transform such events from being mere book bazaars into complete cultural events.
Moreover, I was disappointed with the books displayed by some of the big publishers in the market. A bunch of big titles and heavy weight authors were missing from the shelves. I am not sure if it was a decision made by the publishers themselves to make room for their new publications.
Despite some issues, the return of the book fair after a considerably long absence proved to be a breath of fresh air. However, it would be important to identify the shortcomings and to work on those weaknesses.
It remains to be said that it is indeed a good sign to see such a show of public interest in books and cultural events. It means that we desperately need more of such cultural events. Needless to say, on such cultural values and tendencies nations build their civilizations, grow and prosper. Book fairs, art galleries, stage shows and maybe some musical events like we used to have back in the 1980s will definitely make a difference in people lives.
