SETimes.comCulture and Society: Turkey wins award at Tehran Book Fair
27/05/2009
The 22nd International Tehran Book Fair "special country" award goes to Turkey. Also in cultural news: Athens' new Acropolis Museum will be officially introduced, and the International Circus Art Festival opens in Bucharest.
Turkey won the "special country" award at the 22nd International Tehran Book Fair held from May 6th to May 16th in Iran, the Turkish Culture Ministry announced on Friday (May 22nd). In all, 5.5 million people attended the fair. Turkey participated with 1,700 books.
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Athens' new Acropolis Museum will officially launch on June 20th, Greek Culture Minister Antonis Samaras announced on Wednesday (May 20th). Foreign dignitaries, artists and academics are expected to attend the ceremony. The new museum was built as part of Greece's campaign to bring back historical monuments from the British Museum in London.
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The second edition of the International Circus Art Festival kicked off in Bucharest on Tuesday (May 26th), Hotnews reported. The event will close June 7th. Three important circus shows are participating: Germany's Salome circus, Cirque Le Masque from the US and the Czech Republic's National Berousek Circus.
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Albania's northern town of Shkodra is hosting the fifth edition of the Shkodra Jazz Festival from Monday (May 25th) till Saturday. Italian and Albanian jazz bands, Spanish flamenco and jazz fusion performers are performing on stage.
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A ship owned by former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito was sold through public auction in Rijeka for 107,000 euros, Croatian media reported on Saturday (May 23rd). The yacht, formerly known as Galeb, is considered a piece of national cultural heritage. The Rijeka city government bought the ship recently at auction from a Liberian-based company.
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This year's Summertime Festival in Serbia will be held throughout July. Jazz fans in Belgrade will be able to enjoy performances by world-renowned artists including Irish singer Sinead O'Connor.
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The Skopje 2009 bicycle road race was held for the second time in the Macedonian capital on Saturday (May 23rd). The event, organised by the bicycle association Energy, had five categories: cadets, masters, women, juniors and elite.
(Various sources – 20/05/09-27/05/09)