On 25-28 May the Mikhailovskiy Manege and the adjacent streets were transformed into a huge book quarter with interactive platforms and concert venues, stages, exhibitions, game pavilions and tents. The organizers made sure the event would fit every taste. Over 240 publishing houses and book shops from 10 Russian regions, as well as 20 CIS and non-CIS countries took part in the Book Salon.
Petersburgers and guests of the city had an opportunity to see new releases in fiction, children’s, non-fiction, historical and reference literature. The business and cultural programmes of the Salon included over 200 events with more than 250.000 participants. The guests visited exhibitions at Mikhailovskiy Manege, took part in campaigns, concerts and events held in the book quarter.
It is the second year in a row that the Islamic Culture Research Foundation and the Sadra publishing house attend the International Book Salon. The books presented in the booth of the publishing house sparked the interest of the northern capital’s readers. The book “Persia. The history of the undiscovered land”, art books and scientific editions (“Muslims in new imperial history”, “Treatise on calligraphs and artists”, “Works of Imam Al-Ghazali” by Alexei Hismatullin, “Formation of the Islamic art” by Oleg Grabar) were most demanded.
To everyone interested in research in the area of Islamic culture and philosophy, the representatives of the Fund and the publishing house recommended the books from the new series “Modern philosophical discourse” and “Religion in the modern world”, most of which saw the light in 2017.
The editions of the “Philosophical thought of Islamic world” issued under the RAS Institute of Philosophy were presented to young scholars and student philosophers. Political analysts and all those interested in the history of religion, Islamic culture and thought, were recommended the books of the “Islamica & Orientalistica” series published with the support of the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies.
The “Persian tales” for children were a true discovery for readers. The Sadra publishing house presented several series devoted to the subject,including an adapted version of “Shahnameh” and parables of contemporary Iranian writers “Neyestan”. Colourful books from the “Shekarestan” series inspired by the same-name Iranian animated series immediately won the hearts of children and their parents. No wonder — the books are of high quality and have been designed according to the specified age category. Colourful illustrations of contemporary Iranian artists catch the eye and don’t let the readers put the book down.
During the Salon the representatives of the Islamic Culture Research Foundation and Sadra publishing house met the authors and business partners of the publishing house, including professor S.M. Prozorov, A.A. Hismatullin, Yu.A. Ioannesian and others. These meetings will result in many interesting publishing projects.
A presentation on the activity of the Islamic Culture Research Foundation and the Sadra publishing house was delivered in the great hall of the St. Petersburg Association for International Cooperation within the framework of the business programme. The event was attended by: S.M. Prozorov, A.A. Hismatullin, R.I. Bekkin, Yu.A. Ioannesian, Renat Yanyshev, T.G. Cherniyenko and others. The general director of the Sadra LLC, Mr Tabai, spoke about the Fund’s work, emphasizing its financial contribution to a number of research projects devoted to Islamic studies. Mr Tabai presented new scientific works that saw the light in the end of 2016-beginning of 2017 thanks to the Fund’s support, as well as new fiction and historical editions of Sadra LLC. The presentation attendees expressed a great interest in Iran as an ancient country with rich traditions and as a modern state. The discussion touched upon historical sites, touristic routes and main landmarks. General Director’s assistant, V.G. Larina spoke about a new dimension of Sadra’s activity — children’s literature.
