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Books, Paper, and More at the Bienal do livro de Sao Paulo!
The Bienal do livro de Sao Paulo is something that bibliophiles visiting Sao Paulo will truly not want to miss – as a matter of fact, if you love books, you might even want to plan your visit around being in the city for this fantastic event! The first Bienal do livro de Sao Paulo was held in August 1970 and ran for two weeks, and has been running strong ever since!
The event is held in the Biennial Pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, the same pavilion that holds the Biennial of Art later on in the year. The concept of a book biennial actually began in the 1950s, inspired by the idea of introducing a European concept into the public sphere – France, Germany, and Italy all had book fairs of their own that were highly successful, so why not Sao Paulo? The first event was held in 1951 in a public square, but since the attendance was larger than expected, it was moved for the following years as it grew.
In 1956, the Bienal do livro de Sao Paulo was held in the Viaduto do Cha, the most centralized location in Sao Paulo for pedestrians to cross through on a daily basis – and still the event grew! In 1961, the Biennial partnered with the Sao Paulo Museum of Art and became known as the ‘International Biennial of Books and Graphic Arts’, and its enormous success only continued in the subsequent events of 1963 and 1965.
By 1996, the Bienal do livro Sao Paulo was such a success that it had to be held at the Expo Center Norte! This allowed even more publishers and booksellers to showcase their work, put up exhibitions for their companies, let smaller booksellers bring some of their specialized works, and even for self-published authors to set themselves up and try to market their work. This was also a more spacious area for attendees, but it wouldn’t last for long!
It was in 2002 that the Bienal do livro de Sao Paulo was moved to the Centro de Exposicoes Imigrantes with 45,000 square meters of space. This should be the location of the event for years to come, dependent on the weather, since the sunshine and pleasant forecast of 2006 meant the event was held in spacious Anhembi Park. According to the organizers of the event, there were around 550,000 people who attended the 18th Biennial in 2004, with an increase to over 800,000 people in 2006. This is an incredible attendance rate for a book fair!
And yet, for those who love books, an event like this is only natural! During the last Bienal do livro de Sao Paulo, over 2000 new books were launched and approximately 1.3 million books were displayed by the 320 exhibitors that participated. Not only that, but the event is a book-buyer’s and seller’s dream come true – approximately 75% of the people who attended the even made a purchase, and the average purchase was 5 books. If you are a reader, this is one event that you absolutely do not want to miss!
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