Book fairs are usually about author hunts and signing of book rights. But when the 58th Frankfurt Book Fair kicks off on October 4, India will mark its presence by sending more than just novelists, poets and playwrights to the world's biggest literary mart, a gathering of some 100 countries and 150 publishers.

A large three-part art exhibition dedicated to Amrita Sher-Gil titled "Amrita Shergil -- The Artist Family in the 20th Century" is expected to open on October 3 at Haus der Kunst, a museum in Munich, to celebrate India's special place this year as the 'Guest Country'. The last time this honour was extended to India was in 1986.

About 37 works of the Indo-Hungarian painter will travel from the National Gallery of Modern Art here, as well as others vintage photo shots taken by her father Umrao Singh and a photo series on Sher-Gil's life by Vivan Sundaram, a Delhi-based artist and relative of the artist.

Coinciding with the India celebrations at Munich, the Culture Ministry will spend some Rs 60 lakh to showcase a piece of its grand ongoing project -- The National Mission for Manuscripts. Called the "The Word is Sacred, Sacred is the Word", it will display 80-100 select objects from the 1.4 million ancient manuscripts the Mission has documented since 1992.

While the nation's oldest surviving literary evidence -- the 6th century AD Gilgit inscription on birchbark and currently in the possession of the National Archives of India -- is not likely to leave the country, rare pieces such as the 2nd BC terracotta figurines with Brahmi script, 6th century AD copper plates as well as several other examples of India's rich textual heritage from Prakrit to Persian will be on display.

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