At a forum on the Chinese version of two books by James Renshaw, In Search of the Greeks and In Search of the Romans, recently published by the China Translation and Publishing House, Greek Ambassador to China Evgenios Dimitrios Kalpyris said that the book about the Greeks provides a comprehensive reading of the philosophy, history, art, theater, religion and social structure of ancient Greece, and also ideas about the growth and social development of their rivals, the Spartans.
Federico Roberto Antonelli, director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing, said at the forum that the civilizations of China, Greece and Italy are very important to the shaping of today's world. The youth must learn history so that they will know that human civilizations have long known each other and walked hand in hand for thousands of years, and this friendship needs to be cherished and remembered often, which is the value of the two books, he said.
Liu Bogen, director of the China Publishing Group, said at the event that the two books can offer a window for Chinese readers to better know the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.
The book fair also provided a platform for publishers to meet one another.
As a publishing house that has been releasing art books in the international market for eight years, Guangxi Normal University Press invited one of its partners, British ACC Art Books, to make an introductory appearance at the book fair. ACC Art Books, founded in 1966, has been cooperating with Guangxi Normal University Press since 2018 to publish works in English by top contemporary Chinese artists and designers, such as Xu Bing, Zhu Yingchun and Zhang Yonghe.
The most recent fruit of the cooperation is Farmer: Photographic Portraits by Chinese photographer Pang Xiaowei, which presents a curated selection of 160 images from Pang's project on Chinese farmers.
