Budapest applied for the “UNESCO World Book Capital 2023” title

CultureEventsNews

Today, the city of Budapest is officially submitting its application for the UNESCO title of “World Book Capital” of 2023 signed by mayor of Budapest Gergely Karácsony and deputy mayor Erzsébet Gy. Németh. If UNESCO supports the Hungarian tender, the Hungarian capital – on the 150th anniversary of the unification of Pest and Buda – may host the whole year-long program series in 2023.

Mayor of Budapest Gergely Karácsony emphasized: “ We believe that through books, reading and common cultural experiences we can talk emphatically about the essence of freedom of thought and knowledge, we can give space to topics related to environmental protection and climate change. We can point out what we have in common and what unites us. It will be a year that will emphasize the need for solidarity, cooperation and empathy. ”

One of the key goals of the 2023 competition is to have an impact on cultural, artistic, educational and social processes in the long run, building on mutually reinforcing programs, building on partnerships, creative thinkers and civil communities. The community programs of the event serve to create an even more emphasized cultural equality in the post-pandemic world.

” This year we will make reading and even novel writing a community experience, highlighting the importance of environmental protection and sustainability with the involvement of the co-arts, and we will present Budapest’s historical and contemporary book culture,” promised Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony.

According to the capital’s plans, the encounter with the book will be highly decentralized in space: in addition to large public institutions as well as central major events, the focus of the program will be on many small, unique events.

The focus of the Budapest competition is the promotion of reading, the promotion of the traditional and virtual relationship between the creator and the reader, but at the same time it wants to address the audience and the communities with the presence of other fields of art. The decision is expected to be made in the summer of 2021.  Photo credit Budapest.hu