[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Al Turaifi stresses importance of reading, opens Riyadh Book Fair" ids="40780,40781,40782,40783,40784,40785,40786"] Shahd Alhamdan RIYADH — The Minister of Culture and Information Adel Al Turaifi officially opened Riyadh's annual International Book Fair at Riyadh's International Convention and Exhibition Center on Wednesday night, stressing the need for all to inculcate the reading habit. While announcing that Greece is the Guest of Honor in the book fair, Al Turaifi expressed the hope that reading of books would gain credence while stressing the importance of books and the knowledge it imparts. The opening of the book fair started with the rendition of the national anthem, recitation of verses from the Quran, a short film about the history of the Riyadh's Book Fair, and the minister's speech. The book fair is being held under the theme ‘The Book is Memory That Does Not Get Old'. The book fair will continue until March.19. Considered to be one of the largest book fairs in the Middle East with the participation of more than 500 publishing houses and around 400 exhibitors the fair is expected to draw a goodly crowd in the remaining days. During the 10 days of the exhibition, Greece will showcase in its booth many books and documents that extolls the culture of the Greeks and its ancient and storied history. Al Turaifi honored several theater artists and authors and presented them awards too after that the minister had officially opened the exhibition rooms. The design of the exhibition is a facsimile of the design of old Riyadh city, starting with the entry gates similar to the gateways of old Riyadh, in addition to the corridors of the exhibition, which also is depicted with the names of the streets of the old Riyadh. The Cultural Committee in coordination with the exhibition management has allocated about nine events targeting the youth of both genders while giving them the opportunity to benefit from these events in various fields such as reading, writing, theater, cinema and cultural creativity in general. During the exhibition many literary and poetic seminars will take place and there will be few corners and sections for children. There is also a special section focusing on plastic art, and a photography section focusing on ‘Asefat Alhazm', the war in Yemen.
