“He meomoēa he ohorere / While you are sleeping / Bevor es bei Euch hell wird”
Official video and notes from the Guest of Honour press conference:
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Frankfurt, 13/10/2011 – “He meomoēa he ohorere / While you are sleeping / Bevor es bei Euch hell wird” – This is the slogan under which New Zealand will present itself as 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair’s Guest of Honour.
Today’s press conference, which got off to a spectacular start with a performance of the New Zealand haka Ka Mate ritual dance, included speeches by project leader, Tanea Heke; the Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, Juergen Boos; and New Zealand’s Chief Executive of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Lewis Holden, on the opportunities involved for New Zealand as the Guest of Honour. Also present were a number of other famous New Zealanders, including world famous Māori author Witi Ihimaera (The Whale Rider) and the President of the Publishers Association of New Zealand, Kevin Chapman.
The diverse programme of the 2012 Guest of Honour is being eagerly anticipated.
The Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair, Juergen Boos, said: “For us as readers New Zealand is a terra incognita – and what could be better than the prospect of a journey into the unknown? New Zealand’s literature has been heavily influenced by a variety of cultures and media formats, so its presence at the book fair promises to be an exciting and intense cultural experience.”
The New Zealand literary scene is enjoying growing popularity. The press conference speakers also emphasised some of their home country’s other extraordinary qualities. Aside from its world-famous spectacular natural scenery, New Zealand has made a name for itself with its technological and scientific expertise in highly developed economic sectors, such as ultra-modern post production and the design of 3D feature films.
Chief Executive Lewis Holden drew the audience’s attention to the wide range of presentation options available to New Zealand: „The Frankfurt Book Fair is a hub of energy that creates and shares new ideas that become part of our lives through books, e-books, and films – all the things that give us pleasure in life and inspire us an intellectual way. New Zealand is delighted to be the Guest of Honour for 2012 and to share our stories with the world.“
With New Zealand as Guest of Honour, visitors can look forward to a compelling mix of modern and traditional influences, as well as an outstanding programme of art and culture.
*Aotearoa [ao,tea„roa] is the most widely known and accepted Māori name for New Zealand. The word can be broken up as: ao = cloud, tea = white and roa = long, and it is therefore usually glossed as “the land of the long white cloud”
Frankfurt Bookfair 2012: An Aotearoa Affair 