For this 17th edition, the Medellin Book and Culture Fair has chosen France as the guest country. Its literature and culture are represented by French authors and artists. Since September 8 and until September 17, conferences, book signings and workshops have been held to talk about “women”, this year’s theme. Nearly 500,000 visitors are expected.
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In the heart of Medellin’s 14-hectare botanical garden, with its trees that cover our heads, its pond and its 4,500 species of flowers, an anthill of visitors storms the booksellers’ stands. The tents are filled with books. Workshops or conference rooms with national and international authors were scattered throughout the garden and in theOrchideorama, a wooden mesh canopy with ten hexagonal flowering tree structures. In total, more than 3,000 activities are offered during this open-air book fair.
This Sunday, September 10, one of the workshops was full. The last arrivals had to remain standing to follow the instructions of the designer and author Philippe Fenech. It brings to life the stories of Dogmatix, the Gallic dog. His comic strip Idefix and the irreducible has just been published in “Colombian” Spanish. On this occasion, he offers a drawing workshop around the character of Idéfix.
“ I was surprised to see my workshop with so many people. I represent Idéfix, a Franco-French character, Gallic, but still international since the Asterix comic strip is the best-selling in the world. I realize that this little dog also makes Colombians happy. Many people here seem to enjoy expressing themselves through drawing. I saw some very beautiful Dogmatixes in the room. »
When asked for his reaction to the choice of France as the guest country of the show, Philippe Fenech does not hide his joy. “ I’m not really chauvinistic, I’m above all international. I love people, wherever they come from and wherever they are. But I am proud that France is represented here and that I am a representative, even more so. I am there behind Idéfix, he is the true representative of France. Even if his stories take place in Gaulle, they speak to everyone. These are stories of friendships, of fights against the oppressor. This is what makes the strength of the stories of Asterix, Obelix and now Dogmatix. The important message here is to continue reading, it allows you to dream, to escape. »
The woman in the spotlight
During the ten days of The book and culture festival, several French writers and artists will follow one another. Among them, the authors Eric Sadin, Léonora Miano, Nadia Yala Kisukidi, Camille Reynaud and the illustrator Silène Clarté. The choice of France as guest country is not a coincidence. It is closely linked to the theme of this show: “women”. Juan David Maya, the undersecretary in charge of libraries, readings and heritage within the culture secretariat of the city of Medellin explains this choice by a desire to expand the debate on the representation of women in society. In this show, more than 65% of participants are female participants.
“ The idea is to make the work of women more visible in society, in art, in culture, in writing as writers, as editors, as translators, as creators. France has references in this area such as the writer Annie Ernaux, the Nobel Prize winner in literature. Concerning philosophical subjects too, she is very advanced, particularly on the question of feminism. »
For children, this year, a French work was also revisited and presented in the form of an exhibition, that of The beauty and the Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. “ This 17th century tale, about a French woman, is now reinterpreted by an author from Medellin in a short tale called Niñas Bestias. She confronts the preoccupation that women have about their beauty and their image in the mirror with the image of a disheveled girl, who makes fun of her reflection and who is not afraid of getting dirty. She seeks to reconcile them and realizes that they are two sides of the same person. »
In Colombia, according to the latest study led by the DANEthe national administrative department of statistics, in 2017 Colombians read an average of five books per year, in Medellin, around seven.