Erbil’s First Kurdish Book Fair… Promoting language and culture with broad regional and international participation | culture

In an unprecedented cultural scene in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, the city of Erbil is hosting the first exhibition specialized in Kurdish books, with wide participation from publishing houses and cultural institutions from inside and outside Iraq, in an attempt to enhance the presence of the Kurdish language and enrich its library with new and diverse publications.

The exhibition is being held under the slogan “Kurdish Writing… Thinking in Kurdish,” organized by the Office of the Ministry of Culture and Youth in the Kurdistan Regional Government, and in coordination with the Wafaye Publishing House, attracting tens of thousands of visitors since its opening on June 4.

An unprecedented event

While about 50,000 people visited the exhibition during its first days, the exhibition supervisor, Rebin Fattah, expects the number to rise as its activities continue until June 10.

Fattah explained in his speech – to Al Jazeera Net – that 130 publishing houses and printing and publishing institutions are participating in the first session of the exhibition, a number that reflects the amount of interest given to Kurdish books and the cultural movement in the region.

He adds that the exhibition is not limited to publishing houses operating in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, but also witnesses the participation of cultural institutions and publishers from the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Syria and Iran, as well as Kurdish publishing centers active in a number of European countries.

Fattah describes the event as “the first national exhibition for Kurdish books in the Kurdistan region,” explaining that Erbil used to host international book fairs, but this is the first time that an entire exhibition has been devoted to Kurdish cultural and linguistic production.

He believes that the exhibition reflects the development witnessed by Kurdish printing presses and publishing houses over the past years, both in terms of quantity and quality of the publications presented.

Rare books

Participating publishing houses will display hundreds of new titles, in addition to rare books and works presented for the first time to the public, in the fields of literature, history, philosophy, humanities and social sciences.

Roxana Press General Manager Farid Chiozori says that the peculiarity of the exhibition lies in its focus exclusively on Kurdish books, which provides the opportunity to shed light on Kurdish cultural production and introduce readers to the latest publications published in the Kurdish language.

He mentioned during his talk – to Al Jazeera Net – that the public demand reflects the presence of a wide base of readers interested in Kurdish books, noting that local publishing houses are now producing diverse works covering various fields of knowledge and science.

Shiozuri believes that the exhibition constitutes an important step in enriching the Kurdish library in the mother tongue, and contributes to encouraging writers and publishers to submit more intellectual and literary works in the coming years.

He confirms that there is a tendency to transform the exhibition into an annual periodic event, thus consolidating its position as a major platform for Kurdish writers in Iraq and the region.

Strengthening cultural identity

For her part, Zainab Lutfi, Director of the Baha’i Dialogue and Implementation Office in the Kurdistan Region – one of the pavilions participating in the exhibition – believes that the importance of the exhibition is not limited to displaying and selling books, but rather extends to introducing Kurdish culture and highlighting it to a wider audience inside and outside Iraq.

During her talk – to Al Jazeera Net – Lutfi draws attention to the fact that the book remains one of the most important means through which the Kurds express their culture, history, and identity, along with other cultural and artistic means.

She adds that the Kurdish community is known for its interest in culture and reading, and that providing cultural spaces of this type contributes to attracting various social segments and gives them an opportunity to interact with local knowledge production.

She believes that the public success achieved by the exhibition in its first session encourages its continuation and development in the coming years, to become a fixed cultural date on the agenda of cultural events in the region.

Platform to confront drugs

The exhibition was not limited to the cultural aspect, but also turned into a platform for raising awareness of pressing societal issues, including the fight against drugs, which constitutes one of the most prominent challenges facing society in the Kurdistan region and Iraq in general.

In this context, the Barzani Charitable Foundation invested in the exhibition’s activities to launch awareness campaigns targeting visitors, through educational programs and training workshops in which specialists, academics, and social media influencers participated.

The Foundation’s anti-drug campaign official, Ako Fayek, says that the project that the Foundation is working on is based on three integrated stages, which begin with raising awareness of the dangers of drugs and their health and social effects, then establishing a specialized hospital to treat addicts and abusers, all the way to the stage of reintegrating those recovered into society.

Fayek adds – to Al Jazeera Net – that the third phase focuses on providing work and new life opportunities for those in recovery, helping them overcome the stage of addiction and reintegrate into society.

He continues that the Foundation organized training workshops targeting scientific and educational competencies, professors, and social media influencers, with the aim of expanding the circle of awareness and reaching the largest possible segment of young people.

Between the book corridors, pavilions of publishing houses, and intellectual seminars, the first session of the Kurdish Book Fair in Erbil does not appear to be just a cultural event. It is an attempt to highlight the linguistic and cultural identity of the Kurds, and to open a space for discussion about societal issues and challenges, in an event whose organizers hope it will turn into an annual tradition that consolidates the status of the Kurdish book and enhances its presence inside and outside Iraq.