Perhaps the most famous international children’s book fair is the one in Bologna. Founded in 1963, the event is held every year at the end of March – beginning of April. For four days, the Italian city becomes the center of the global book industry. Publishers, agents, authors and illustrators literally occupy the city in their desire to look, but also to meet with the maximum number of potential employers. Bologna Children’s Book Fair is also one of the few events that offers a relatively free dialogue between independent authors and illustrators with different publishers and agents. Meetings can be both arranged in advance and “random” at the times that the publishers have announced. And the opportunity to “drop” your portfolio in the box of a publishing house is more than a lottery ticket, although no one knows an artist who has won the six.
With the opening of the doors of BolognaFiere, the mass of people poured into the exhibition space, and the walls reserved for artists seemed to have been filled the day before.
This year's fair began with an official opening ceremony, which, in addition to the mayor of the city, the mayor of the Emilia-Romagna region and the deputy minister of culture and tourism, was also attended by representatives of the guest country - China. With an increase of 8.6% compared to the previous year, i.e. a total of 1,390 exhibitors from 100 countries and more than 27,000 visitors, the Bologna fair traditionally welcomes its guests with exhibitions.
Today, our gaze stopped there. As we announced earlier, for the first time we have a representative from Bulgaria in the person of Kalina Muchova and her book, which we expect soon from the Tochitsa publishing house. Exactly 15,256 works, from 72 countries by 3,053 artists applied for the exhibition in 2018, but only 77 were selected.
Manuel Marsol is the artist who won the prize at the fair last year, and Ludwig Volbeda is the Grand Prix winner at the Bratislava Biennale 2017. Both exhibitions are in the central hall. The DPRK exhibition is also located in the central exhibition area. The works may seem strange, unfamiliar or even confusing to some if they intend to see “traditional Chinese paintings”. It is here that the eastern country proves that it is not subject to dogmas and stereotypes and shows guests that it can fit into any market. There is no common style, direction or spirit, and each author creates their own worlds and realities. Yes, China is definitely not only a technical industry in the global book market, but also an active participant. It is with the news about the upcoming fair in Shanghai in the fall, organized together with BCBF, that it suggests what it is capable of.
The commemorative exhibition by Gianno De Conno is located in section 32. And so on. Silent books, which are gaining more and more popularity in the eyes of critics, are in section 26.
Perhaps it is here that we should also mention the lecture by Maria Russo and Leonardo Marcus from the New York Times, which took place that day (March 26) in the illustrators' section. They managed to very briefly and clearly define the latest and rapidly developing trends in the world of children's books in the USA. The lecturers divided the new market into four categories (we will not translate them): 1. Nonfiction - these are books that provide information without having a specific narrative; 2. Silent books - or what we call picture books. They have no text and in this sense are available all over the world without being limited by language barriers. 3. Philosophical books - here the easiest example is really Oliver Jeffers and the "idea", what we know as a "conceptual book". Its subcategory is the so-called "scary news books", which the domestic market has started to talk about half-heartedly; 4. Deceptively simple books - or as the Bulgarian says "I can draw this too". The main fallacy here is in the ease, which is actually quite complicated.
In addition to exhibitions, today was also filled with awards. We cannot fail to mention the presentation of the “Hans Christian Andersen” award, which was won by the Russian illustrator Igor Oleynikov and the Japanese writer Eiko Kadono. The hall was packed with people waiting for the announcement of the winners by the IBBY leadership. Igor Oleynikov said especially for our site that he did not expect such an honor, “I feel happy,” the artist shared through tears. His sincere drawing and masterful composition won the votes of the jury, as did his strange characters – witches, giants, fairies and trolls, and he often says that he does not like to draw “little cute girls”. He draws by hand and does not believe in new technologies. What would he advise young artists? “To learn and draw”.
The previously announced BolognaRagazzi Award winners are participating with a full exhibition, and the meeting with this year's author of the fair's vision will take place on Wednesday in the late afternoon.
And we remain to follow who this year's winners of the Astrid Lindgren Prize will be, reminding that among the nominees are the writers Viktor Samuilov and Yulia Spiridonova, as well as the illustrator Lyuben Zidarov.
We will soon share a full album of photos.
Photos and text: Milena Radeva
Add comment