At the beginning of January, we published the selection of illustrators that was chosen by this year's jury at the Bologna fair. There were quite a few comments and shares of the works, and the discussion that swirled on social networks mainly revolved around the questions "Are these children's illustrations?" and "Would anyone publish these things?". Therefore, I will dedicate this material to the exhibition that I had the opportunity to see with my own eyes and with a great effort I will refrain from an extremely personal opinion.
As we said two months ago, the selection includes 76 artists from 27 countries, a total of 14,505 works were submitted by 2,901 artists from 62 countries, and the jury is composed of Diego Bianchi (Argentina), Maciej Byliniak (Poland), Alessandro Sanna (Italy), Harriët van Reek (Netherlands), Béatrice Vincent (France).
Илюстрациите на крайния подбор са представени в централното фоайе на панаира под стъкла на дълги маси, осветени с насочващи лампи. Осъзнавам, че пространството за излагане на толкова много творби (всеки автор участва с по четири илюстрации) би било огромно, но този начин винаги ми се е виждал особено неудобен. Лампите се отразяват в стъклените плоскости и образуват твърде много бликове по огледалната повърхност. Но така е било и така ще бъде, или поне ще чакаме да видим какво ще се случи до 2024 г.
At an official conference, the five-member jury had the opportunity to provide a little more information about their choice. Each of them strongly emphasized that they were guided by the idea of teamwork and, regardless of their own aesthetic and practical views, in the end they agreed with the rest of the group. And perhaps this clarification is really important in advance, before sharing what each of them said:
Harriët van Reek (artist, illustrator and teacher) defined the experience as an “illustrator’s prison”. What she said she was looking for in the illustrations was “atmosphere, humor and personal touch”. “There were a lot of illustrations with many, many, many people, which scared me. They were looking at each other… and I thought, read books, not your phones!”
Diego Bianchi (illustrator, designer, teacher and publisher) was more laconic in his explanation… “The image has to speak to me, otherwise it is not an illustration, but simply a drawing. And here it was very difficult because we are isolated from the text and these are actually drawings. It is the combination of drawing and story that turns the book into a book, even when it is a picture book. I am looking for “something”, for me it is important that there is an interaction between me and the story. The reader defines himself through the idea, not through spots and color. It is not enough to have color and shape, the image has to speak!”.
Béatrice Vincent (publisher) admitted that she probably had the hardest time of all the jury members, as she is a publisher herself and has a different perspective on illustration. “Leaving my requirements as a publisher who has to sell, I had to choose drawings that should be included in an exhibition that everyone would want to see. Here the conversation was different – aesthetics and mystery”. She said that in many situations she had entered into a wide dialogue and a muted argument about the images, but in the end the most important thing for her was teamwork. “Actually, ‘NO!’ I would not publish these drawings. I had a certain publishing shock, especially with one of the Japanese artists – he had no narrative, he was very dark and caused a lot of discussion”.
Maciej Byliniak (art editor) shared that in this exhibition he was looking for energy, technique and the way in which both are used in one image. “This is like a child’s drawing” many of you may say to yourself, but in fact it takes a lot of courage and knowledge to achieve such an illustration”. The contrast, the simple drawing, the idea behind the image itself are the elements that he comments on in some of the paintings. “And the animals… so many animals of all kinds. And there was a moment when I like one drawing, but then I see another – similar, and a third – the same again… We have to be original, and that is very difficult, because we are not original in the world of social networks!”.
Alessandro Sanna (illustrator, teacher) said that this was a very emotional moment for him, since he himself had been on the other side for many years – the artist who was told “NO!”. “That’s why I looked at these illustrations as part of something bigger, something that would be published. But let’s face it, it’s not possible to make a completely responsible and objective assessment, because I had missed some of the paintings that the other members of the jury had evaluated. Yes, I was indifferent to some, I didn’t like some, and others… We didn’t have any requirements “from above” and we had to create them ourselves on the fly. But I was looking for someone who would accept themselves as the artist they are – the Italian being Italian, the Japanese being Japanese. Because I personally have often felt like I wanted to paint like a Japanese, but I am Italian.”
At the end of the discussion, this year's winners of the two awards, which are traditionally presented during the fair, were also announced. The Fundacion SM award went to Sarah Mazzetti (Italy), and the Ars in Fabula award for author under 30 years old went to Olga Shtonda (Ukraine). All artists were also awarded a diploma for their participation in the exhibition.
This year we do not have a Bulgarian participation, although six artists have submitted their applications for participation – Martina Andonova (registered from Italy), Galina Andonova, Yana Popova (registered from England), Stanimira Petrova, Mira Miroslavova and Yasen Gyuzelev.
Good luck next year, and I already know where I will be in the period March 30 – April 2, 2020!
Photos and text: Milena Radeva
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