BOLOGNA CHILDREN’S BOOK FAIR. THE 58TH EDITION OF THE ILLUSTRATORS’ EXHIBITION: THE WINNERS 2024

Bologna Children’s Book Fair – BCBF continues its intense search to unearth new trends and talents in global illustration. Following the celebrations in 2023 to mark its 60^th anniversary, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair is preparing for its 61^st edition, at the BolognaFiere Exhibition Centre from 8 to 11 April 2024.

The Illustrators’ Exhibition, meanwhile, this year has 58 candles of its own to extinguish. One of the longest running initiatives at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the Illustrators’ Exhibition was created in 1967 as a showcase to identify and present the best of global illustration each year. Over the decades the exhibition has accompanied the evolution of the world of children’s books, following their development and identifying their creative dynamics: from the tradition of illustrated stories to the arrival of the book as a predominantly visual medium of expression, all the way to the more recent success of silent books.

Also due to feature in the halls of the BolognaFiere Exhibition Centre, together with BCBF, are the two initiatives that complete the BCBF line up: BolognaBookPlus, by BolognaFiere in collaboration with AIE – the Association of Italian Publishers, is dedicated to the generalist publishing industry, while the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids brings the leading international players in the licensing and entertainment sectors related to content for children right to the very heart of the Fair.

IN NUMBERS

A total of 3520 illustrators had work submitted for the Illustrators Exhibition 2024, with a total of 17,600 works from 81 different countries and regions. This year the selection was performed by a jury that, after meeting online to shortlist 344 illustrators, came together in person in Bologna at the beginning of January to finalise the choice of 78 sets of illustrations, the work of 78 illustrators from 32 different countries and regions. The selected illustrations will be exhibited in their original form at the heart of the fair, on display for the public of professionals from the publishing world, demonstrating once again the role of the Exhibition as a unique showcase, a springboard for emerging artists and an opportunity also for those with established careers to meet and discover new possibilities.

From 8 to 11 April the Exhibition will also be open to all online through the BCBF Galleries portal, accessible from the BCBF website. The entries will be collected in the Illustrators Annual, the catalogue distributed in international specialised bookshops and published by Corraini in Italian and English, by JBBY - Japanese Board on Books for Young People in Japan, and in the respective languages in Korea and in China. The illustrations shown within it are accompanied by the original contributions of the jurors, while the cover is customarily illustrated, in alternate years, by the artist who won the H.C. Andersen Prize or the Grand Prix BIB - Biennial of Illustration Bratislava. This year the cover art is the work of Chilean illustrator Paloma Valdivia.

THE JURY

The jury, which differs every year and is made up of international experts in illustration for children and young people in various fields of publishing, this year is composed of: Marco Ghidelli (founder of the publisher and graphic design studio RAUM Italic, Italy), Lee Ho-baek (founder of the publisher Jaimimage, author and illustrator, Korea), Xiaoyan Huang (founder of Macmillan Century, a joint venture of Macmillan Group in Beijing, and the independent publisher Everafter Books, China) and Øyvind Torseter (one of the best-known and most highly decorated authors and illustrators worldwide, winner of the 2008 BolognaRagazzi Award Detours in 2008, Norway).

INTERNATIONAL TOUR AND OPPORTUNITIES

The exhibition is a unique opportunity for the selected illustrators to boost their visibility. Each year at the end of the Fair, the exhibition departs for an international tour, taking in cultural venues in the world’s major cities over a two-year period. The first stops are in Japan, Korea and China.

Participants aged under 35 are also automatically entered for the Bologna Children’s Book Fair - Fundación SM International Illustration Award, which offers the winner a scholarship (worth €15,000) to create and publish an illustrated book over the course of a year: the illustrations will then be exhibited in a solo show at the next edition of the Fair. The artist selected in 2023, whose solo exhibition will feature at this year’s edition, is the Italian illustrator Andrea Antinori. Finally, every year Ars in Fabula - School of Illustration rewards an unpublished illustrator aged under 30 with the ARS IN FABULA - Grant Award, offering the opportunity to attend the ARS IN FABULA - Master in Illustration for Publishing free of charge while working on a book project assigned by one of the Master’s partner publishers.

For bios of the jury members follow the link:  https://www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com/focus-on/illustratori/mostra-illustratori/giuria-2023-mostra-illustratori/5934.html 

At the following link can be found the names of the 2024 winners plus a selection of the illustrations: https://www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com/en/focus-on/illustrators/the-illustrators-exhibition/7940.html