Liguria. It is around the theme “Liguria, a sea of books” that the Liguria Region will be the protagonist at the Turin Book Fair with a rich program of meetings, presentations and debates. For the XXXVI edition of the international event, the over 500 titles – mostly new – proposed by the 37 Ligurian publishers will find space in the “Sala Liguria” (Oval Pavilion, to music, art, non-fiction and cooking. Five days of events coordinated by the De Ferrari ETS Foundation, for a total of 60 presentations within 36 panels, including the three major meetings dedicated to Songwriting, Poetry and Comedy.
“This event will be a further showcase for our culture and for our entire territory: at the Turin Book Fair, where for the first time in history Liguria participates as a guest region, we will bring an authentic village that will be the backdrop to all our cultural resources, from publishing to Ligurian songwriting, obviously without neglecting the memory of great names in literature and poetry such as Montale and Calvino – declares the president of the Liguria Region – In this little Ligurian square ‘away’ in Turin we will also offer a taste of Ligurian food and wine, art and architecture. In short, an event that fits perfectly into the many promotional initiatives of our territory which, as shown by the growing number of visitors, are having excellent results”.
“Only a few months ago we received the invitation to become a guest Region at the Book Fair and it was an honor and a joy to fill the five days of the event with the best of Liguria – says the coordinator of cultural policies of the Liguria Region Jessica Nicolini – Our life is full of books, films, music, art but above all authors from all worlds, who expand our imaginary life and make us live a thousand lives. We intend to create other worlds and bring them together, hoping that some can become real, just as the collaboration implemented with the publishers has become real, as they have been able to team up and work as best as possible for a particularly varied program that is aimed at every type of audience. An interest that is confirmed for example with the sold-out, several days after the inauguration, of the event with Gino Paoli. At the Salon we will bring the best of Ligurian publishing together with all its creativity for a continuous comparison between publishers, institutions and citizens, capable of enriching us. Because publishing not only promotes knowledge and imagination, but also the economic and social growth of a territory, in a continuous dialogue that goes beyond national borders”.
“Genoa was the Italian Book Capital, bringing authors, events and meetings of national interest to the city – comments the delegate councilor of the Municipality of Genoa – Being able to be represented at the Book Fair, in such an ambitious project, is therefore both the final culmination of this path is a new beginning for the future of culture in Genoa. The editorial network that has expressed itself in recent months has now expanded, involving many interlocutors from all over the region. This is certainly an excellent sign of development and we are honored that the Municipality of Genoa can be part of it.”
The organization of the “Sala Liguria”
We will talk about Ligurian fiction and non-fiction, art, music, cuisine, sport and, of course, the region’s book prospects. There will be the 2005 Strega Prize Maurizio Maggiani, for example, and the former water polo player Eraldo Pizzo, as well as the international tenor Fabio Armiliato and the director of Palazzo Ducale Ilaria Bonacossa. The public will also be able to immerse themselves in the activities of the “Sala Liguria” thanks to the performances of Renaissance music from Western Liguria, the pop of Sandro Giacobbe and Trilli, up to the laboratory to create an artist’s book edited by the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti All events that will take place in the setting of a picturesque Ligurian square on the sea, overlooked by houses made of books. The faces of one hundred characters from Ligurian history created by the artist Jean Blanchaert will parade on the external walls. The Liguria region will present itself to the public at the Show as a village in which to walk to discover stories and places where it will also be possible to taste, through tasting sessions, some of the most authentic products such as mortar pesto, focaccia and canestrelli.
“The Turin Motor Show is the most important Italian trade fair, and the second in Europe – adds Fabrizio De Ferrari, publisher and coordinator of the Hall -. This participation is therefore a great opportunity, also in promotional terms, which Ligurian publishing has taken up in the best possible way, giving life to a rich and varied program with over sixty non-stop presentations divided into more than thirty thematic events. Thanks to the synergy with the Liguria Region, it will therefore be possible to consolidate this cultural project”.
“Palazzo Ducale hosted many of the initiatives connected to the year in which Genoa was Capital of the Book – underlines the director of the Foundation for Culture Ilaria Bonacossa –. Some of these are still ongoing, such as the exhibitions on Franco Maria Ricci, the great publisher and intellectual, creator of books and images and ‘Nostalgia’, a self-produced exhibition from Palazzo Ducale to which the ‘Orlando’s Library’ installation is connected by the artist Daniela Comani. I, as new director, inherited the work carried out by Palazzo Ducale with professionalism and enthusiasm, including the series of meetings of Ligurian publishers which gave rise to a collaboration which will also result in the presence at the stand organized by the Liguria Region on the occasion of the Salone of the book. A prestigious event in which I am honored to participate and during which I will talk not only about the current exhibitions, but also about the great exhibition dedicated to the impressionist painter Berthe Morisot, which we will host in the autumn at Palazzo Ducale”.
The big events
On the occasion of the presentation of the book ‘What I will do when I grow up’ (Bompiani), the Liguria Region will present on Thursday 9 May at 6.15 pm, in the Sala Rossa, a meeting with the father of songwriting, Gino Paoli, a surprising and imaginative musician who Salone will talk about himself in the round interviewed by the journalist Claudio Cabona. The second day, Friday 10th at 6.15pm, will be dedicated, in the Viola Room, to a reading of the most beautiful poems by Giorgio Caproni, Eugenio Montale, Camillo Sbarbaro, Edoardo Sanguineti. Many of the most beloved, prestigious and innovative poets of the twentieth century are in fact Ligurian. The following day, Saturday 11 May, at the same time in the Amber Room, the last of the great meetings will be a tribute to ‘Fantozzi. A tragedy’, for the National Theater of Genoa, with Gianni Fantoni and directed by Davide Livermore, with the aim of celebrating Paolo Villaggio through his most famous character, also protagonist of ‘Operation Fantozzi’ (Sagoma) by Gianni Fantoni . Paolo Villaggio’s daughter, Elisabetta, will also take the stage. The Lingotto rooms will also host, on Friday 9 May at 11.30, the seventieth edition of the LericiPea Golfo dei Poeti International Poetry Prize (Ivory Room).
With participation in the Turin Book Fair 2024, the Liguria Region continues and expands the success of the experiences of Genoa, the Italian Book Capital, which saw 150 presentations in a year, more than one every three days, and of the centenary of Italo Calvino, celebrated between Palazzo Ducale in Genoa and the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome. In 2024 the Ligurian publishing program also included the first stage of the States General of Publishing. The synergy with Turin intends to enrich the cultural offer of a Liguria that has made its words a great engine of growth. From the new programming and new direction of Palazzo Ducale, to the National Theater led by Davide Livermore up to the Carlo Felice Theater which has become a ‘national monument’.
Books belong to everyone and for everyone: the participation of publishers best summarizes the effectiveness of the cultural policies introduced for this never-before-taken project. The next objective of the Liguria Region will be to leave the national borders to participate in the Buchmesse in Frankfurt.
The three major events of the Liguria Region, with the relative possibility of booking, are available at this link.
Here is the program.
