Work on the digital platform for the Arab Book Fair in Europe is nearing completion
The Arab Book Fair in Europe announced the launch date of the exceptional digital session of the exhibition, from August 20 to September 4, 2020, followed by a number of exhibitions in European capitals and major cities in Sweden, as part of a series of cultural activities organized by the Swedish company Nordic Digital World and the Qatari Lusail Publishing and Distribution House, in partnership with the Copenhagen International Arab Book Fair, Alwan Magazine, the ArabiskaBazar platform for marketing Arabic books in Europe, and a number of European cultural institutions. Regarding the idea of the digital session of the exhibition, media professional Alaa Al-Barghouthi, CEO of Nordic Digital World, confirms that this session is an exceptional session that came in light of the unprecedented circumstances that the world is suffering from due to the spread of the Corona virus, which led to the cancellation and postponement of many Arab book fairs in the world. The idea of the exhibition focuses on taking advantage of the digital space to introduce books and publishing houses, while books will be ordered through digital platforms in Europe and the Arab region, as the exhibition management provides the feature of free shipping for books for all titles at competitive prices within Europe. The exhibition will be accompanied by a distinguished cultural programme, in which a group of Arab writers, authors, thinkers and researchers will participate through the exhibition’s virtual halls from the Arab world, Turkey and Europe.
Al-Barghouthi added that work on the digital platform for the Arab Book Fair in Europe is nearing completion, and the exhibition team is following up with the role of the mechanism for uploading its titles to the platform designated for the exhibition, which will be used primarily during the first exceptional session of the aforementioned exhibition, until conditions improve, and we resume our exhibition activities, which we will start in the second session of the Copenhagen Arab Book Fair, and a number of exhibitions that will be announced successively in Europe and the Scandinavian countries.
Regarding the platform, Al-Barghouthi confirmed that the exhibition platform will provide paper and electronic books to the exhibition visitors, as visitors will wander through the platform between the books in a smooth manner according to the publishing house and classification, and books will be requested directly through the platform, while the exhibition management will provide the feature of free shipping for paper books to all European countries during the exhibition period.
Al-Barghouthi added that currently 9 exhibitions have been arranged in a number of European capitals and Swedish cities, in partnership with a number of European institutions, and the detailed schedule of the exhibitions will be announced soon. It is worth noting that the Swedish company Nordic Digital World had previously organized the first session of the Copenhagen International Arabic Book Fair, and it is the owner of the ArabiskaBazar platform, one of the most important platforms for selling and marketing Arabic books in Europe.
Both Nordic Digital World and Darlusail Publishing and Distribution, which owns an electronic platform for distributing paper and digital books around the world, were a response to the aspirations of Qatari, Arab and foreign writers for a professional publishing institution that would deliver their publications to readers wherever they are, so that the writer would become a shining beacon in the sky of Arab and international literary and intellectual creativity.
On the sidelines of the Doha International Arabic Book Fair 2020, they signed a memorandum of cooperation in the fields of publishing, paper and digital distribution, and establishing Arab book fairs in Europe, among others.
