By Mila Novita

Copyright tempo

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The 45th Indonesia International Book Fair (IIBF) exhibition is taking place from September 24 to 28, 2025, at the Assembly Hall, Jakarta International Convention Center (JICC) in Senayan. The book exhibition organized by the Indonesian Publishers Association (Ikatan Penerbit Indonesia, Ikapi) raises the theme “Exploring Content, Enlightening Mind.”This book exhibition presents more than 500,000 books with 125 participants, 150 literacy events, and 160 speakers from within and outside the country.A total of 20 countries will take part in the largest book exhibition in Indonesia.Ikapi chair Arys Hilman Nugraha said IIBF serves as a space for intellectual, cultural, and creative business meetings. He said, “The nation’s progress cannot be separated from the literacy capacity of its people. The irreplaceable main source of literacy is books,” in a press release on Thursday.See what the exhibition has in store for your weekend agenda below:What Can You Do at IIBF 2025?IIBF is expected to be the first step in addressing challenges in the publishing industry, such as low reading interest, access disparities between regions, and the prevalence of piracy.The chair of the IIBF 2025 Committee, Wahyu Rinanto, added that this year’s event will be livelier with the introduction of new programs such as the Indie Book Fest. “We want to provide a bigger space for independent publishers to introduce their works,” he said.One of the main agendas is the Indonesia Rights Fair (IRF) on September 24 to 26, 2025, which brings together 80 publishers and manuscript agents from various countries. This year also introduces the IRF Fellowship program, which encourages foreign publishers to explore Indonesian works for translation.Additionally, the committee will present the Ikapi Awards 2025 to publishing professionals, introduce the Story Market program to connect publishers with the film and digital content industry, and organize Lit Connect to bring together book industry players with creators from various fields.IIBF will also present the Indie Book Fest, Cosplay Carnival Vol. 4, and a variety of events for children, including literacy tours attended by more than 2,000 students.Several authors, literacy activists, and musicians will grace the event, including Tasya Kamila, Ivan Lanin, Erros Djarot, and Rianti Cartwright, as well as musicians Adhitia Sofyan and Maria G. Klau.Imported book distributors also support this literary event, such as Water Lily Literary, Sinar Star Books, and Kinokuniya Bookstore, which will bring thousands of new titles from international publishers.Editor’s Choice: Surabaya’s Jazz Traffic Festival Returns This WeekendClick here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News