Emphasis on the visual at book festival
The 30th annual book festival opens to the public today at Pedion tou Areos, and publishers are out in force to display their latest crop of books. Visitors can also attend a range of cultural events, including concerts, art exhibitions and theater performances. The festival is run by the Publishers Association (Syndesmos Ekdoton Vivliou or SEKB) and the Association of Athens Booksellers (Syllogos Ekdoton Vivliopolon Athinon) in cooperation with the City of Athens. This year the emphasis is on visual impact. The design of the festival poster is the work of renowned artist and professor at the School of Fine Arts, Kosmas Psychopaidis. For the duration of the festival (September 14-30) from 6-9 p.m., seven of Psychopaidis’s students will be painting a picture three meters high and 12 meters wide on the theme of Body – Movement – Writing. The National Book Center (EKEBI) has four separate kiosks at the festival, dedicated to the work of writers Andreas Embeirikos, Angelos Sikelianos, Alexandros Papadiamantis and Grigoris Xenopoulos. The Frankfurt Organizing Committee has its own kiosk where the public can access Biblionet’s latest database of more than 60,000 book titles. Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos will officially open the festival on Monday (17/9). Opening hours: Monday-Thursday 6 p.m.-10.30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday 6 p.m.-11 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. & 6 p.m.-10.30 p.m. Don’t forget that George Szell came from the central European musical tradition, which shaped him, especially through the German-language operas, long before he went to America.
