Books and roses at Instituto Cervantes

World Book and Copyright Day will be celebrated on April 23. By celebrating this day throughout the world, UNESCO seeks to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright. April 23 is a symbolic date for world literature for on this same day in the year 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K. Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejia Vallejo. The idea of this celebration originated in Catalonia, Spain where on St. George’s Day, males and females traditionally exchange a rose for the gift of a book. The tradition inspired a Spanish delegation to propose to the UNESCO a resolution requesting the proclamation of April 23 of each year as "World Day of the Book".

UNESCO Director-General, Koichiro Matsuura said that the 12th World Book and Copyright Day provides a further opportunity for political decision makers, economic operators and civil society stakeholders to pay tribute to the book as the unique tool for expression, education and communication. He also said that there can be no book development without copyright and the celebration of the Day has always been closely associated, from its inception, with raising an awareness on the importance of the moral and heritage protection afforded to works of the human spirit and their creators. Books concretize freedom of expression and demonstrates cultural diversity. Therefore, it is important to safeguard and protect these human works.

On April 21, the Instituto Cervantes in Manila will join all the international celebrations on the World Book Day by organizing a series of cultural events open to the general public. It has organized a whole-day Open House on April 21, 2007 from 10 in the morning up to 11 in the evening with many cultural events like jazz shows, concerts, dance performances, film showings, Spanish wine and cheese tasting, free salsa and Latin dance classes, photo and declamation contests, etc. There will also be a Book Market where Instituto Cervantes will offer more than 4,000 brand new books at token prices. The market will also include a sale of books by Filipino publishing firms like Anvil and leading bookstores like Fully Booked or A Different Bookstore at 20% off. Following the tradition during the "Day of the Book" in Spain, a rose will also be given to every book buyer.

Guided tours of the Instituto Cervantes building will be organized at different schedules. Visitors can also get the chance to attend a free Spanish class for beginners. There will also be special movie screenings with the theme "Great Books on the Screen" featuring La Colmena, which was directed by Mario Camus in 1982 and El Metodo, directed by Marcelo Piñeyro in 2005. Three Spanish movies for children will also be shown. Dia del Libro Party will be celebrated to highlight the event in the evening with a Latin band and Spanish food.

Books and Roses…better than wine and roses.