The 38th edition of the Turin International Book Fair closed its doors after setting a new visitor record: 254.000, half of whom were under 35. In this prestigious and popular setting, the events organized at the stand of the Stall. Eastern Adriatic Book Fair, a review organized by the National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia together with the Multimedia Documentation Center of Julian, Istrian, Rijeka, and Dalmatian Culture, in collaboration with FederEsuli. Round tables, book presentations, and panels dedicated to the world of schools characterized the intense program developed by the scientific coordinator of the Stall, Prof. Davide Rossi (University of Trieste).

It was a very intense five days, with a lot of interest among the fairgoers, with many curious people coming to ask for information, watch the videos on the screen, or listen to podcasts on the devices made available.

"We continue with our strategy of bringing our history, our authors, and our perspective to places where culture is created, where many people are unfamiliar with the history of the Italian presence in the Eastern Adriatic," explains ANVGD President Renzo Codarin. "Many people stopped by our stand to follow the events, pick up books and publications, and ask for information, especially teachers and young people, and this is extremely important to us."

Other Julian-Dalmatian associations were also able to present their activities in this space, such as the Association of Istrian Communities, the Association of Rijeka Italians in the World, the Dalmatian School of Saints George and Tryphon, the Society of Rijeka Studies, the Mailing List Histria Association, the Italian Center "Carlo Combi" of Koper, and the People's University of Trieste.

Speakers at the various historic events included high-profile figures such as Gianni Oliva, prominent academics such as Chiara Cacciavillani and Marco Cuzzi, and institutional representatives with whom collaborations have been consolidated, such as Mario Anzil, Councilor for Culture and Vice President of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Maurizio Marrone, Vice President of the Piedmont Region, Claudia Morich, Councilor for Budget of the Liguria Region, the Honorable Nicole Matteoni, and the Mayor of Gorizia, Rodolfo Ziberna.

Major publishing houses have collaborated on several book launches, from Baldini+Castoldi, associated with the prestigious Nave di Teseo, with the collective volume "Identity Beyond Borders: Generations Compared for a New Adriatic Frontier"; to Mursia with "Fiume, Farewell! The Fiume Epic from the Second World War to the Great Exodus 1940-1954" by Marino Micich; and Rubbettino with "The Long Twentieth Century of the Adriatic Frontier: Institutional Transitions and Legal Changes" by Davide Rossi.

Among the guests who visited the stand in the Oval Pavilion at the Lingotto were Paolo Trichilo, the Italian Ambassador to Zagreb; Alessandro Amorese, the Hon. (Member of the Chamber of Deputies' Culture Committee); Jadwiga Pinderska-Lech, Director of the Auschwitz Archives; Giovanni Grasso, Councilor for Press and Communications at the Quirinale; and Giordano Bruno Guerri, President of the Il Vittoriale degli Italiani Foundation. 

The theme of this edition of the Book Fair was "The World Saved by Children," and so it was a must to include meetings organized with the Ministry of Education and Merit to illustrate applications, internet portals, school competitions, training activities for teachers, and Remembrance Trips to share the history of the Adriatic border with young people.

"In this context, we also presented the Exhibition of Dalmatian Exiles from Istria and Fiume (MEDIF), set up inside the Vittoriano thanks to an agreement between FederEsuli and the ViVe Institute, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture. This immersive, fully multimedia exhibition, curated by architect Massimiliano Tita, was also visited by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, on February 10th and welcomes over 1.000 visitors daily. Finally," concludes Codarin, "we were delighted to present "Exodus. The Silence of Those Who Remain," a study by anthropologist Katja Hrobat Virloget, which introduced Slovenia to the diaspora of indigenous Italians in Istria and the plight of our compatriots who remained under Tito's communist regime."