La teoría de la cerezas, Frankfurt Book Fair 2022

Spain, as the guest of honor at the Frankfurt International Book Fair 2022, will stand out with a pavilion overflowing with design, history, technology and sustainability.

Enorme, Vitamin and Twopoints are the creative studios behind the pavilion “La teoría de las cerezas” (The Theory of Cherries) which has been transformed into a space for exploration where words become colors, sounds, and movement. It is a creative and multisensory proposal that also gives special relevance to the voices of women and to the questions necessary to make a more sustainable publishing industry.

Spain, which had already been a guest of honor in 1991, proposed for this edition the goal of improving foreign knowledge of Spanish literature. With this purpose, the project, which carries the slogan #CreatividadDesbordante (Overflowing Creativity), presented almost 200 participants including writers, translators, illustrators, editors, literary agents, booksellers and distributors.

A national public competition was held for the design of the pavilion, where the proposals submitted not only had to follow the theme of the edition, but also had to do so in an innovative, original, creative and sustainable way. The winning proposal was “La Teoría de las Cerezas” (The Theory of Cherries) presented by Enorme, an architecture firm based in Madrid and Vitamin, a multidisciplinary studio specializing in interactive and immersive installations.

The Pavilion

The pavilion is a 2,000 sqm space where the three main capsules, called cherries, form the main exhibition space, accompanied by two stages, a large and a medium one, the happy hour area, the workshop area and the interactive stops. All separated by circular or trefoil skins that, scattered throughout the pavilion, create squares for meeting and recreation or corners for reflection.

From one installation to another, located between the capsules of the main exhibition space, dynamics were proposed that through language enhance their sense of orality, written expression, synesthetic value, grammatical value or their complex relationship with artificial intelligence.

Upon arrival, visitors are greeted by large format graphic impressions that emulate an “open book”, followed by a winding reception table, which serves the function of displaying the selection of books for sale as well as offering an information point.

Auditoriums

Auditoriums are spaces for meetings, knowledge generation, and debate. Their skin or enclosure was created through the superposition of recycled and recyclable paper sheets.

Both during the day and in the evening, when natural light disappears, the paper skins are impregnated with dynamic color projections.

The Cherries

Three interwoven cherries are the main element of the exhibition space. Delimited by layers of semi-transparent skin, with a cherry tree in the center, they offer an immersive experience for visitors who are immersed in atmospheres and colors, literary quotes, editorial references, and definitions projected in all our official languages.

Interactive Stops

An interactive photo booth welcomes visitors. “It is the thermometer of thought, the brain of artificial intelligence that manages the space,” Vitamin describes it. The screen projects large color splotches, which respond to the coding of the most repeated words and concepts in the space, as well as to the passage of the attendants.

This first element is followed by six installations that play with the plasticity of words in the digital age: The writer, the listener, the interpreter, the reader, the exquisite corpse, and the imaginary.

The writer

On a table, a mechanical arm is reproducing the calligraphy of some of the most significant Spanish-language authors with a pen. This robot raises a poetic reflection on transhumanism and the role of technology in the future of literature.

The listener

At this stop, attendees can isolate themselves to listen to stories, novel excerpts, and poems from the latest National Literature Awards. In recent times, audiobooks have become an interesting support for those who want to read while doing manual activities.

The interpreter

A microphone invites us to pronounce a word in our language that, through a program and depending on its sound, is transformed into a similar color stain that taints the space.

The reader

These supports work as showcases of the sector’s novelties. Small libraries in which to display Spanish titles with international projection or already translated into other languages and available in other markets.

The exquisite corpse

Through a series of light acrylic plates, on which interchangeable words and phrases appear along a longitudinal support, the creatives proposed new messages and slogans that visitors could complete and transform. The game is inspired by a already legendary surrealist writing method.

The imaginary

These reading corners constitute breaks for rest and relaxation. In a pavilion where colors, sounds, and words predominate, the visitor can find moments of tranquility to discover new books and authors of different genres.

The project has been coordinated by Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) and the General Direction of the Book (Ministry of Culture and Sport), in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism, the Cervantes Institute, and the Federation of Trade Guilds of Spanish Publishers (FGEE).

The inauguration ceremony was held on Tuesday, October 18 and was attended by Their Majesties the Kings. During his speech, Felipe VI expressed his gratitude for the opportunity that this great cultural and literary showcase, at the European and global level, represents.