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Vice President of the IPA attends the 11th International Book Arsenal Festival

IPA Vice President, attended the 11th International Book Arsenal Festival in Kyiv, the first since Ukraine's civil war began.
on Jul 07, 2023

Gvantsa Jobava, IPA Vice President, attended the 11th International Book Arsenal Festival in Kyiv, the first since Ukraine's civil war began.

Jobava spoke at the opening ceremony, thanking festival director Yulia Kozlovets for the invitation, as well as Oleksandr Afonin and UPBA for their contributions to the IPA. Volodymyr Vakulenko, the winner of the Prix Voltaire Special Award, was also mentioned.

I was on another stage exactly one month ago, in Norway, under slightly different circumstances. As many of you are aware, one of the IPA's cornerstones is the support of freedom of publication and, by extension, freedom of expression. I was there as part of the World Expression Forum, and the situation there kept echoing in my mind.

That night, on that stage, we announced our laureate for the 2023 IPA Prix Voltaire, our Freedom to Publish medal, to brave Iraqi publisher Mazin Lateef Ali, who vanished three years ago.

We also chose to honor your fallen compatriot, Volodymyr Vakulenko K, with an IPA Prix Voltaire Special Award. Thank you so much to Victoria Amelina for traveling to Norway to collect the award and returning it to him and his parents.

Volodymyr was a hero, I stated that night. We at the IPA believe you are all heroes.

Jobava brought an IPA - Ukraine flag to the festival as a show of solidarity.

Later in the week, Jobava discussed the work of IPA and options for international support at the professional programme.

Her full words can be found below.

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.

Being here as Vice President of the International Publishers Association is an honor and a privilege for me. With great affection, solidarity, and support, IPA and its president Karine Pansa have entrusted me to you.

We, as publishers all across the world, admire the Ukrainian book industry's extraordinary demonstration of bravery, dedication, and heroism.

I'd like to thank Yulia Kozlovets in particular for the invitation. And thank you to Oleksandr Afonin and all of your colleagues at the UPBA for being an important member of the IPA.

Ukraine has lost many patriots in this unjust conflict that has raged in your country for more than a year, including troops and civilians, women and children. Ukraine has also suffered a loss of writers and readers. They were lost for everyone of us, for everyone who believes that justice and liberty are the most valuable achievements of humanity. Their faded life represents our collective failure.

Today, I'd like to focus on one of them, Volodymyr Vakulenko, a children's novelist whose body was discovered in one of Izium's mass graves.

That night, on that stage, we announced our laureate for the 2023 IPA Prix Voltaire, our Freedom to Publish medal, to brave Iraqi publisher Mazin Lateef Ali, who vanished three years ago.

Volodymyr was a hero, I stated that night. We at the IPA believe you are all heroes.

And it is critical that IPA stands by you as you defend your language, culture, and nation from aggression. And you're doing it admirably.

The fact that "Book Arsenal" has already returned to its in-person version this year after a one-year absence, and that we have come to commemorate all of these historic events, demonstrates that the Ukrainian book sector's quick revival is unavoidable. IPA will continue to be by your side to help you achieve your goal.

We look forward to the day when we will fly to Kyiv with our colleagues from around the world to mark the three most significant achievements of your courageous warriors and brave people in general: justice, freedom, and, of course, Ukraine's victory!

As you are aware, I am serving as vice president of the IPA as well as representing Georgian publishing business Intelekti today. I can't speak to you as a stranger since I feel like one of you as a Georgian.

The Ukrainian people are among the closest and dearest to us of all the world's peoples; as a result, I consider myself to be one of you. Unfortunately, we too have a common experience with Russia's war and colonization of our lands. Our shared pain binds us together. Our scars from the 2008 conflict are still deep because, contrary to popular belief, war is not a number at all, but rather an aggregate of human tragedies, ruined lives, and unhealable traumas.

And, despite the fact that official Tbilisi has made numerous unfavorable, ambiguous, and hostile statements in recent months, I would like to take this opportunity to express the opinion of the vast majority of our population, the Georgian people, that we have not changed and that our love for the Ukrainian people has not changed, but has actually doubled. And you can easily observe this if you take a stroll through Tbilisi's streets, which are adorned with Ukrainian flags and inscriptions on every corner.

We are impressed by you and the fortitude of the Ukrainian warriors, and we are equally proud of the Georgian troops who are currently fighting on your front or have given their lives in this battle. Georgians are grateful to Ukraine because we feel you are fighting for our country's well-being and a better existence for the entire world. We believe in Ukraine's victory and that evil will finally fail