Minerva (one of the oldest bookstores in Africa) moves to Café Continental – Maputo

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Minerva (one of the oldest bookstores in Africa) moves to Café Continental – Maputo

12:38 CAT | 27 Apr 2018

Minerva Central, one of the oldest bookstores on the African continent, is to take over the premises of the former Café Continental, renaming itself the ‘Minerva-Continental’, the bookstore announced at the launch of the 82nd Minerva Book Fair yesterday evening.

In addition to serving meals, the space will host book launches, music sessions, debates and meetings with writers.

The launch of the 82nd Minerva Book Fair saw roses presented to all those attending and was graced with the presence of Minister of Culture and Tourism, Silva Dunduro.

Teodoro Waty, Marcelo Panguana, Eduardo Quive, Cristiana Pereira, Arcélio Tivane and Lucílio Manjate were chosen to speak about their contribution to the literary world, each asked to present a summary of one of their books to whet readers’ appetites.

In his speech Teodoro Waty, pointed out that, “Minerva Central, far from being an enemy, is a competitor. We are talking about healthy competition, a competition that produces friendship, which produces synergies. We are celebrating the book in various dimensions; we are celebrating knowledge through the book”.

The fair was opened by the Minister of Culture and Tourism, who in his speech announced the news of Minerva Central’s impending move. The bookstore will indeed leave its current location, but the future premises, on 25 de Setembro, one of the main avenues of the capital, will only be ready in three months. Minerva Central will then move into the premises of the Continental coffee-shop and restaurant, its name then changing from Minerva Central to Minerva Continental.

minerva (11) — *Minerva in 1020. Photo: Santos Rufino / Houses of Maputo blogspot*

Silva Dunduro appealed to writers and literature lovers to participate in book and music fairs. “The fair is taking place at a time when the district phases of the 10th National Culture Festival are underway, the final phase of which will take place in Niassa Province from 26 to 30 July. In this way, we urge writers and lovers of literature, along with public and private institutions, to participate in book and music fairs, debates and literary workshops taking place in the context of the Festival,” he said.

Book Fair coordinator Victor Gonçalves explained where the Minerva Continental project came from.

“The idea arose in many ways. First, the Continental had been going downhill for several years – right under our eyes, because we are neighbours – and it was painful for an historic institution such as ourselves to see the degradation of a space and not being able to do anything about it. Second, the idea of a café, where you can linger, read the newspaper, read a book, drink a coffee, eat sushi or a meal, always seemed nice to us, since we think that culture and gastronomy are inexplicably linked,” Victor said.

Gonçalves said that the Continental premises “became vacant about a month ago, and we approached the owners to ask if there would be any interest in selling the space. We also spoke to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, who gave us their support, so we were able to move forward with the project”.

continental.fm — *Café Contenental became vacant a month ago. File photo: Folha de Maputo*

The event saw invitations to events in May extended to all lovers of Mozambican literature. On Thursday the 3rd, Arcélio Tivane will talk about his book “You Can Be Rich”; Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa will talk about his latest work, “Gungunhana” on the 11th May, and Marcelo Panguana and Teodoro Waty will both release new volumes on May 8th and 10th respectively,

Source: O País