5th Kinshasa Book Fair 23 November - 1 December 2001
Corneille Monoko
Corneille Monoko is Director, Kinshasa Book
Fair, BP 3478, Kinshasa-Gombe, DR Congo. email: corneille_monoko@yahoo.fr
Translated from the French by Sulaiman Adebowale
The series of activities marking the 5th Kinshasa
Book Fair was held from 23 November to 1 December 2001, at the Acad�mie
des Beaux Arts, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The fair, also
known as Bibliophilie '01, brought together not just publishers but
also other actors and entrepreneurs involved in promoting culture in
the Congo. The trade event this year centred on three major activities:
a seminar on the country's National Book Council, an exhibition of Congolese
writing in all its forms, and the meeting of cultural entrepreneurs.
The National Book Council in the Democratic
Republic of Congo
The fair's organising committee set up a meeting
of actors in the book trade on 23 November, to discuss the question
of the need for a national book council. The participants summed up
needs to be addressed as follows:
1 develop a structure to study, plan and implement
a book policy that is embedded in the country's cultural policy;
2 elaborate the working documents and structure
of the book council and the strategies to adopt in the implementation
of the council; and
3 set up a working secretariat with the responsibility
of drafting the framework for the governing structure and of developing
a collective database and network of competence and knowledge in publishing
in the country.
These statements demonstrate that actors in the
book sector are no longer willing to leave the situation as it is, they
are determined to propose effective book policies or, if necessary,
to put pressure on public institutions, to ensure that they recognise
the realities of publishing and literature in the DR Congo. For book
actors, these objectives also signify a sincere commitment and an existential
necessity for the sustainability of the industry.
The working group formed at the end of the meeting
comprises the following members:
Corneille Monoko, Foire du Livre de Kinshasa;
Jean Pierre Manuana, Centre de recherche et de documentation
de l'enseignement sup�rieur et universitaire de Kinshasa (CDESURK);
Prof Manda Kizabi, Universit� de Kinshasa;
Ren� Pambu Pasha, Centre internationale de civilisations Bantou
(CICIBA-RDC);
Pierre-Aim� Mobembo, Association des Biblioth�caires, Archivistes,
Documentalistes et Mus�ologues (ABADOM);
Bokeme Sha ne Molobay, Pr�sident du salon internationale du livre
de Kinshasa (SILKIN).
The 5th Kinshasa Book Fair
The 5th International Kinshasa Book Fair was opened
by Madame Marthe Ngalula wa Fuana, the Minister for Arts and Culture
and Madame Manoka, Vice-President for International Cooperation. The
main highlight of the opening ceremony was a literary award event. La
foire du livre de Kinshasa awards were given to Boka and Lutumba, the
composers of 'D�bout Congolais', the country's national anthem, and
known to every child in the country since 1960. The ceremony also witnessed
the launching of a new literary award competition, 'Entre les bras du
fleuve', organised by the Communaut� fran�ais de belgique, represented
at the occasion by Mr Freddy Jacquet. The competition is open to Congolese
writers below the age of 30.
The fair provided an opportunity for local publishers
to promote their titles to the public and link up with authors as well
as other publishers. The fair continued till 1 December 2001. Prominent
among the activities at this year's fair were: visits from pupils and
students led by the Institut National des Arts, which also organised
a cultural workshop; book clubs; an exhibition of writings, illustrations
and literature for and from children, who made up 80% of the visitors;
workshops coordinated by the Association des auteurs et illustrateurs
des livres pour enfants - ALIELE/Congo [Association of Authors and Illustrators
of Children Books]; and the editorial board of the comic book Bleu blanc.
As with previous editions of the fair, exhibitors
and visitors also had the chance to see artworks (ceramics and sculptures)
being created as part of the fair organisers' efforts at bridging the
frontiers within the arts.
In spite of the continued difficulties faced by
the publishing industry - notable are the weak purchasing power of the
general public and the meagre resources and equally weak marketing competence
of local publishers - there is a growing publishing industry in the
country. According to the depository of the National Library of the
Congo, 450 titles were published in DR Congo in 2001. It is remarkable
that, amidst the conflict in the country, books were rolled out of the
press, in as great a quantity as the minerals which form the basis of
the senseless pillage that has ravaged the nation for some years now.
The thirst to read, the hunger to write, which
came out from the 5th Kinshasa Book Fair is comforting to the organisers,
given its objective of promoting reading, strengthening the publishing
industry and boosting the book trade.
The cultural entrepreneurs meeting
Under the auspices of the Ing�nierie Culturelle
et Artistique de Kinshasa (ICAK), cultural entrepreneurs in the DR Congo
gathered for the third time during the Kinshasa Book Fair on 26 November.
The outcome of this meeting saw the creation of
a platform known as Organisation Congolaise de l'Entrepreneuriat Culturel
(OCEC). The body's main objectives are to promote their work, participate
in the drafting of a cultural policy and inject resources and knowledge
from culture and the arts in the development processes of their society.
A working group has been set up to run the affairs of the body until
the election of a secretariat. Its members are:
Corneille Monoko, Pr�sident de La Foire
du livre de Kinshasa
Placide Pidi a Gumama, Directeur du Festival Socioculturel de
Gungu Nono Bakwa, Directeur de Festival Internationale de l'Acteur
The committee has already begun work on its first
main series of activities: to put in place a viable training programme
and to develop a web site on culture and the arts in the Congo.
The 6th Kinshasa Book Fair is scheduled for 30
November to 8 December 2002. Detailed information is available from
Corneille Monoko. [end] [BPN, no 29, 2001, pp 4-5.]
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