On World Book and Copyright Day
Guadalajara World Book Capital (WBC) 2022, and with it, the State Government launched "Jalisco, state of creators and readers", a program that aims to bring the capital to the entire state.
Guadalajara is already World Book Capital, a distinction granted by UNESCO for a whole year, during which time the city is committed to using literature and books as a vehicle to promote a culture of peace in public spaces, neighborhoods and neighborhoods.
It was the collective reading of José Saramago's book, Essay on Blindness, which marked the beginning of the capital.
The dynamic that year after year the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) organizes, took place in the morning at the Paseo Alcalde with a brief opening ceremony attended by the Secretary of Culture of Jalisco, Lourdes González; the Mayor of Guadalajara, Pablo Lemus; the President of the FIL, Raúl Padilla; the Director of the UNESCO World Book Capital Program, Ian Denison; the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, Vera Michalski-Hoffmann; and the Director of Guadalajara World Book Capital, Martín Solares.
In her speech, the Secretary of Culture of Jalisco, Lourdes Gonzalez, reflected on this work, said that Essay on Blindness was discovered and taken up by many people throughout the pandemic by COVID-19 "almost as a parallelism", and added: "if there is a message -in the book-, it is not in the tragedy, but in the call to recognize ourselves from our most human condition".
The secretary acknowledged the work of all the people at FIL who have made this collective reading possible for more than 20 years. The official also highlighted the efforts of the authorities of Guadalajara, UNESCO and the capital, and invited everyone to consult the program "Jalisco, state of creators and readers".
The day closed with more reading and mariachi music at the Cabañas Museum, where in a formal inauguration ceremony, Pablo Lemus, Mayor of Guadalajara, mentioned some of the characters that the city "has seen grow and reach the top", because, he stressed that the most valuable heritage that the Perla Tapatía has, is its people.
"Our mission throughout this year will be to make books and reading indispensable tools to promote peace and prevent violence. The World Book Capital will be in the neighborhoods and public spaces: in Analco, in San Andrés, in El Santuario, in San Juan de Dios, in Tetlán, Huentitán or Mexicaltzingo and in every corner of this noble and loyal city".
On his part, the Secretary General of Government acknowledged the State Culture Secretariat that with the government of Guadalajara "will support positive actions to promote the maximum expression of the human being, which is culture and books".
"We are jubilant in Guadalajara and in Jalisco, where we will make every effort to socialize more, implement more and disseminate the value of books to settle our social differences and strengthen our social fabric".
Also in the presidium were Raúl Padilla, Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO; Adrei Basilaia, Deputy Mayor of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia; Fréderic Vacheron Oriol, UNESCO Representative in Mexico; Rodrigo Borja, Director of Libraries in Mexico and the Secretary General of the Government of Jalisco, Enrique Ibarra
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