European Union - Guest of Honour
at the International Book Fair of Guadalajara
Under the motto ‘Building a Union of Cultures’, the European Union participates as Guest of Honour in the 2023 edition of the International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Mexico.
From 25 November to 3 December, more than 70 authors from its 27 Member States and Ukraine represent the EU at the book fair.
Musicians and artists are meeting in Guadalajara to offer an extensive artistic programme, which includes musical and theatre performances, a European film festival, various visual arts exhibitions, as well as a gastronomic programme.
The EU takes the opportunity to present a wide-ranging literary and cultural programme to strengthen ties with the cultural world of Latin America and the Caribbean.
What is the FIL?
International Book Fair of Guadalajara, Mexico (Feria Internacional del Libro/FIL)
FIL is the largest book fair in Latin America and Spanish speaking world, and second largest globally after the Frankfurter Buchmesse (Frankfurt, Germany). Founded in 1987, it celebrates in 2023 its 37th edition.
Beyond its role as an event and marketplace for the publishing, literary and book sectors, FIL is a vibrant and innovative cultural event. It showcases all forms of artistic expression, cultural manifestations and academic exchanges, both inside and outside the book fairgrounds.
EU Guest of Honour Programme
Through its participation, the EU hopes that the collective thinking and awareness raised by literature and the arts, by dialogue and through cultural exchanges and encounters contributes to developing new approaches, catalyse the emergence of innovative ideas and multiply the connections between cultural institutions, people and societies.
- Literature program (“Dialogues programme”: day-by-day program based on 19 dialogues (topics)
- Program for professionals
- Artistic program
- FIL Thought and FIL Science
- European Film Festival
- Visual Arts
- FIL Kids & FIL Youth
- Gastronomic program
CULTURAL EVENTS
The nine nights of the FIL Forum have been designed with a multinational approach and a symbolic bridging of borders between musical genres and cultural exchange between societies.
Highlights include the participation of the European Union Youth Orchestra, the EU-LAC Jazz Festival, an Adriatic and Balkan Fiesta, a Baltic-Nordic music night, an electronic co-creation show, a rap night, a Mexican-Spanish festival, among other activities.
The Museo de las Artes (MUSA) of the University of Guadalajara will host different exhibitions, including one on immersive digital art and an Ukrainian contemporary art exhibition.
In the words of the Uruguayan author Eduardo Geleano:
'The best the world has to offer is the many worlds that the world contains'
Or even as the Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco said:
'The language of Europe is translation.'
The EU is the proof that unity is possible in diversity and the FIL is the opportunity to co-create that unity with the cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean.