Manuscript Center 5th International Conference (6-8 May 2008) Lost and Embedded Manuscript Texts                                       Resident Scholar Program

The Bibliotheca Alexandrina at Frankfurt

The Arab world is Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2004. The Arab States have concerted their efforts to present the Arab culture via a diverse literary and cultural program reflecting its variegated nature. The BA has been entrusted with the elaboration on the theme of the information age and the presence of the Arab intellectual experience in multimedia and digital technology, and on the Internet. Following a number of preliminary meetings with Mr. Mohamed Ghoneim, General Coordinator of the Arab participation in the Book Fair, Dr. Ismail Serageldin assigned Dr. Youssef Ziedan with the supervision of the BA's pavilion, which occupies circa 450 m2 of the total space allocated to the Arab world. It houses a group of computers to display the Library's e-publications, such as the natural and cultural documentation programs released by the Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage headed by Dr. Fathy Saleh. In addition, virtual browsers of rare manuscripts, a virtual visit of the Manuscript & Rare Book Showroom, Digital Library collections, and a digital copy of the Vienna Papyrus; the only surviving vestige from the ancient Library of Alexandria, among others, will introduce the Manuscript Center's electronic publications. Moreover, the pavilion is to exhibit other digital productions covering the new and ancient libraries of Alexandria as well as paper publications including the Multi-lingual publishing series, catalogs introducing the rare holdings of the BA, various booklets and publications highlighting the assorted departments and cultural, academic activities of the BA. It is worth noting that the pavilion walls are to be decorated with graphic murals, some of which are of 12-meter in length. All of them are executed using state-of-the-art techniques within the BA and intended to mirror the essence of the Arab culture and depict some exquisite rarities of the manuscript holdings in the world libraries. The pavilion is designed to be a traveling exhibition that can be easily rebuilt according to different occasions and events. Furthermore, the BA is to hold a number of cultural seminars from 4:00-6:00 p.m. daily as indicated in the following program