On October 16, the official opening of the Ukrainian national stand took place at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Visitors to one of the most significant events in the literary world are presented with over 300 books from 31 Ukrainian publishers. This year’s focus theme for Ukraine is “The Return of the Voice”, highlighting the importance of restoring the national voice on the global stage.
The national stand was opened by Mariia Shubchyk, co-curator of the Ukrainian program at the Goethe-Institut Ukraine, Olena Odynoka, Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Book Institute for International Cooperation, Claudia Roth, the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, Stefan Rüssel, Commissioner for Cultural Policy at the German Foreign Office, Peter Kraus vom Cleff, Director of the German Publishers Association, and Johannes Ebert, Head of the Goethe-Institut.
In her speech, Claudia Roth condemned russian aggression and the attempts to destroy Ukrainian identity and culture. She mentioned the shelling of the Vivat publishing house’s printing facility, as well as the authors Volodymyr Vakulenko and Victoria Amelina, who were killed as a result of russia’s war against Ukraine. At the same time, according to the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Ukrainian writers offer hope and raise their voices in defense of democracy.
“This war brings terrible destruction, and people are dying every minute. It is also a war against culture, and I often repeat this. What is putin’s strategy? It’s the destruction of institutions, libraries, the annihilation of culture. The shelling of the printing house where Vivat Publishing was printed is an attempt by putin to destroy Ukrainian identity and culture. He wants Ukraine to disappear, but we cannot allow that. We stand with the Ukrainian people,” emphasized Claudia Roth.
In turn, Juergen Boos assured the audience of continued support for Ukraine in organizing its national stand, which is being presented for the third time at this major book event. He emphasized his firm stance on the impossibility of having a russian national stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair while russia is waging a war of aggression: “There has been and will be no national stand for russia. I have never liked excluding anyone, but I do not want to see representatives of the russian government here. As for publishers, we will carefully check the books displayed at their stands. It may seem like censorship, but we will do this because tussia is destroying the culture of another country.”
Peter Kraus vom Cleff expressed his gratitude to all the organizers of the Ukrainian stand and program, noting that Ukraine has managed to present itself very strongly at the fair, despite being in the third year of full-scale war.
As part of the Ukrainian program, over the course of five days, there will be discussions, presentations, and public interviews where participants will talk about art created by the war, about Ukrainian writers who lost their lives, and the books that preserve their voices. The program aims to showcase literature that swiftly and poignantly reflects Ukraine’s wartime reality.
“We strive for a broad European audience to discover even more authors and public figures who demonstrate courage, resilience, and endurance every day,” commented Mariia Shubchyk, co-curator of the program (Goethe-Institut Ukraine).
In the context of this international book event, it can be stated that Ukraine’s voices are being heard. Despite the fact that the status of the Frankfurt Book Fair as the largest in the world and antitrust regulations prevent its leadership from refusing participation to individual publishers (this year, five russian publishers are registered), a presentation of russia in the format of a national stand is impossible under the conditions of the ongoing full-scale invasion.
The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine is grateful to its German colleagues for their principled and consistent stance in preventing the presentation of a russian national stand in Frankfurt. russian propaganda, which justifies destruction and loss of life, has no place at the world’s largest book fair!
Let us remind you that the organizers of the Ukrainian national stand are the Ukrainian Book Institute, the Goethe-Institut Ukraine, Mystetskyi Arsenal, and the Ukrainian Institute.
