On March 4, a book exhibition and sale featuring new publications by Tajikistan’s state publishing houses took place near the Mirsaid Mirshakar State Library in Dushanbe.

The event opened at 10:00 AM with the ceremonial sounds of the karnay and doyra and continued until 4:00 PM.  More than 10,000 copies of books and 100 different titles were displayed on the stands.

Dedicated to Mother's Day, the exhibition attracted readers, students, university and college professors, government employees, and other residents and guests of the capital.  Many well-known figures were also in attendance.

Honored Artist of Tajikistan Izzatullo Safarzoda, who currently heads the State Puppet Theater, visited the exhibition along with the theater’s performers.  Holding several books in his hands, he shared that he always attends such cultural events with his theater troupe.  He mentioned that at the last exhibition, held at the Sadriddin Ayni Opera and Ballet Theater, they had purchased several books and planned to adapt them for the stage.

He specifically highlighted the books of Mawlana Rumi, Fariduddin Attar, and the work Chor Darvesh from the series Good Stories for Good Children, expressing his desire to stage selected tales from these books.

The theater director also lamented the shortage of playwrights who could write new plays for theaters, especially for the Puppet Theater.  He mentioned a few authors, such as Juma Quddus, Abdujabbor Abdughaffor, Tohir Mamadrizoyev, and Ato Hamdam, with whom they collaborate, and expressed his intention to further develop these partnerships.

Theater artist Hotam Salimov noted that such exhibitions help him discover new publications.

Features of this year’s exhibition

Some visitors praised the organization of such events, noting that they often don’t have time to visit bookstores or markets, and an exhibition in the city center offers a great opportunity to buy books.  Others expressed satisfaction with the wide selection of books presented by various publishers, as well as with the pricing.

It is worth noting that there were almost no works of world literature or their translations into Tajik at the exhibition, except for a few children's books.  Additionally, only a handful of books had been translated from Tajik into other languages, mainly Russian.

A representative of the Ministry of Culture explained the absence of such books by stating that each publishing house under the ministry specializes in a specific thematic area.

Some visitors expressed disappointment over the lack of world literature at the exhibition.