Italian publishing house
Feltrinelli hosts a special 60th anniversary celebration
Thursday to coincide with the opening of the 28th edition of the
international Turin Book Fair.
Feltrinelli is focusing on 12 themes, each marked with the
letter F for the publisher's name, ranging from Fever, to its
Formidable books, to very strong women, Fortissime in Italian.
As well, turn-of-the-century (Finesecolo) stories on the
history of the publishing house is documented with photos and
book covers.
The exhibit is called 'Feltrinelli 60 - Idee, scelte,
storie che fanno futuro', or the ideas, choices and stories that
make the future.
Meanwhile, Thursday's inauguration of the Turin Book Fair
included the participation of Italian President Sergio
Mattarella at the city's Lingotto trade show halls.
"We thought about an exhibit for the 60 years of the
publishing house," explained Carlo Feltrinelli at the
presentation of the event.
"We thought about showing through 12 chapters, actually 12
giant 'F' letters, the wealth of ideas, the stories, occasions,
beauty, turning points, challenges, battles, passions, the
ability to anticipate, the intelligence and intelligences that
have emerged across six decades of activity", he added.
"For the show, we have thought of key words as a synthesis,
each opening a door on the past, present and what lays ahead",
concluded Feltrinelli.
This celebration focuses on a symbolic consonant - 'F' - to
travel through a story that has become a common heritage of the
whole country.
The 'Fever & Phosphorus' section showcases the adventure of
late editor and left-wing activist Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, who
died in 1972.
'Forma', or shape, located inside the Feltrinelli stand
where everyone will be toasting on Thursday, celebrates the
invention of paperback.
'Fiesta' goes through key events for the publishing house
like a 1996 presentation at the Lyric Temple of Milan with
French author Daniel Pennac, which was entirely sold out, with
200 people left outside.
Almost marked was a presentation with Chilean-American
novelist Isabel Allende at the Upim store in the financial
capital's Porta San Babila, which was such a hit that it
completely blocked traffic in the area.
The two-meter-high 'F' letters in beechwood are located
across pavilions and outside the Lingotto.
They form an itinerary across the history of Italian
publishing, which is especially significant now, with the
proposed acquisition by Italy's largest publishing group
Mondadori of a number of book publishers owned by the
second-largest group RCS (Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera).
Carlo Feltrinelli spoke about the future in an interview
published Thursday by Corriere della Sera's Sette magazine.
The golden age of publishing - at the end of the 1950s with
the French Gallimard house, Germany's Rowholt Verlag and New
York's leading publisher Knopf - "is probably over for good", he
acknowledged.
"However, I see an interesting future: we have an endless
and unexplored horizon with digital publishing", Feltrinelli
noted.
"The two perspectives don't obliterate one another but
rather add up.
"I am optimistic, even though books are apparently losing
ground and the crisis is noticeable".
Amid pavilions at the Lingotto is the 'Freedom' section
with photos of late South African author Nadine Gordimer,
Israeli writer Amos Oz and publisher Inge Feltrinelli, widow of
Giangiacomo Feltrinelli.
The exhibit, which was organized by Sonia Folin and Roberto
Rollo, will be showcased at a number of events following the
book fair, which closes on Monday.
The events include Dialoghi sull'uomo (dialogues on
mankind) in the Tuscan city of Pistoia; the Cortona Mix
Festival, also in Tuscany; the Festival della Mente, or festival
of the mind, a European event dedicated to creativity in
Sarzana, in the Liguria region; the Festivaletterature in the
northern city of Mantua.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
