The FilBo 2022 'Come back to get you back': this was the opening of the most important literary festival in America

The arrival of the covid-19 pandemic led to the closing of the doors of all commercial establishments to protect the lives of Colombians; however, that fact ended up affecting the most important cultural event in the capital and America: the Bogotá International Book Fair (FIlBO).

The literary meeting returned in 2022 in person under the slogan “Come back so that you return”, with the intention that publishers, artists, writers and visitors will meet again in the place where previous editions have been held historically, Corferias. In this new edition, the guest country is South Korea, which just commemorates 60 years of bilateral relations with Colombia.

Although the FilBo will no longer be virtual, as it was in the last two editions, the opening of the fair highlighted the challenges arising from the pandemic. “In the last two years, much of our lives have moved behind screens,” said Corferias CEO Andrés López Valderrama.

The leader of Corferias highlighted that during that time the FilBo was present and reached the homes of thousands of Colombians through virtuality. That achievement also had the hope of the reunion that is possible today at the fairground, where readers and story makers will gather, “to meet through letters”.

The return to face-to-face was also an opportunity for López to invite citizens to visit FIlBo, “to see what we learned as a unique opportunity to reinvent ourselves, to emerge stronger and to find the true essence of who we are”.

The reunion at the fair was not only exalted by the Corferias executive, but also by President Iván Duque and Mayor Claudia López, who were part of the inaugural event; both agreed that of all the fairs and cultural events, their favorite was the FilBo.

“This is by far, on a personal level, my favorite,” explained the local president. That's what I have a special passion for,” said Claudia López during her speech. The mayor recalled that at the time she toured the pavilions with the desire to learn through reading and, for that same reason, stressed that during the pandemic no bookstore closed its doors despite economic difficulties. “We were able to support all readers and lovers of reading to support them in the innovations we could,” he added.

Although Claudia López emphasized several achievements that Bogotá had in terms of reading during the pandemic, she also indicated what are the news that the capital will have in this new edition of FilBo. The first is the 'Read for Life' pavilion, a space that will have more than 20 activities such as launches, workshops, talks with renowned authors such as Piedad Bonnet and thus learn multiple ways of reading.

And the fact is that the importance of reading became a focus for the district, especially since education. López confirmed that the Ministry of Education will ensure that 12,000 students attend the fair and all teachers, teaching managers, administrators and support staff in our schools will be able to enter for free.

The event ended with the intervention of President Iván Duque, who said that “this must be the fair of reunion, but not to return to where we were before, but to come out more strongly to defend culture for development”. For the president, FilBo represents the opportunity to democratically distribute access to knowledge and recalled a phrase by the poet Federico García Lorca: “If I were hungry I would ask for half a bread and a book, because there is no worse hunger than hunger for knowledge, which cannot be satisfied”.

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