Monday, March 11, 2013

Nami Island International Illustration Concours

Good news — my illustrated book project has been selected for the Nambook Festival (aka Nami Island International Illustration Concours) !!  It has to stay under wraps at present, but I can still show you a few glimpses from my selected project.  You'll get a flavour of what I've been up to lately, even though it's out of context.
The Nambook Festival is a yearly children's book event in South Korea, about 70 km south of Seoul on an beautiful tranquil island with groves of giant redwood trees.  Nambook is affiliated with IBBY (the International Board on Books for Young people), as well as being an official sponsor of the Hans Christian Andersen Awards.... presented to the winners each year at the Bologna Book Fair.
The list of winners is pretty impressive—an array of international talent that includes many illustrators who have also been selected for Bologna, Bratislava, 3x3, Ilustrarte, Sàrmede and other places where children's book illustrations are recognized and celebrated.  The grand prix went to the wonderful Korean illustrator Sung-Hee Kim.  A few of the other names that jumped out are:  David Pintor, Eva Montanari, Sonja Danowska, Rashin Kheiriyeh and Irma Gruenholz. And so many others... I'm looking forward to discovering their work!
The illustration exhibit at Nami Island takes place from 25 April to 31 May.  There will be a catalogue/annual of the art show as well.  And if any of you are going to Bologna for the book fair (from 25 to 28 March, in two short weeks from now!), the Nambook Festival has a stand (A36 / H29). Stop by and say hi!
UPDATE:  For those of you going to the Bologna Book Fair, the Nami Illustration Concours will give a brief presentation at the Author's Café on Wednesday 27 March at 16:30 — jury members and illustrators will be on hand for a show-and-tell session. Wish I could be there, too...