The 31st Taipei International Book Exhibition (TiBE) opened its doors on Jan. 31, and the opening ceremony was graced by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Culture Minister Shih Che, among other distinguished guests. Since its opening, Minister Shih demonstrated his support for the publishing sector by making repeated visits to the exhibition to purchase books and participate in lectures.
On Feb. 3, Minister Shih attended a lecture focused on the process of adapting Tang Fu-jui's (唐福睿) novel "The Attorney From Bachimen (八尺門的辯護人)" into film and television, affirming and encouraging the effort to pursue interdisciplinary development of cultural content. In the evening, Minister joined a themed night show titled "Listening to the Different (傾聽異音)." Through the theme, curator Lee Ming-tsung (李明璁) hoped that he, along with readers, can temporarily alleviate the anxiety and slowly learn to pay attention and listen carefully in this era where people have freedom of expression but also live in a state of confusion and chaos.
Those who attended the evening event included Taiwanese writer Gustave Cheng (鄭順聰), Hakka television presenter Chen Ming-chu (陳明珠), indigenous singer Suming Rupi (舒米恩), Taiwan-based Vietnamese director Nguyen Kim Hong, Taiwan-based Japanese actress Tanaka Chie, sign language anchor Sue Wang (王曉書), and Polish poet Marzanna Bogumila Kielar. During the event, they recited selected poems, lyrics, or passages in their native languages and shared their personal perspectives with the audience.
Minister Shih also recited a piece of writing by Lin Ta-yang (林達陽), the acting director of Kaohsiung Public Library, depicting the enthusiasm and belief of writers despite the challenges and difficulties that they face during the process of writing.
According to MOC, since the opening of the exhibition, it has attracted many participants. Poland, serving as the theme country of the exhibition, will showcase its music and traditional food.