Lithuanian Spring

I am still sorting through the Bologna photos, materials, discoveries and encounters.

This first post is dedicated to the first thing that caught my eye at the fair: 

the beautiful exhibition of Lithuanian children's books Illustrarium.

At first I was dismayed by the poor quality of my photos, but luckily

I found their great website with plenty of pictures and information!

Congratulations to Lithuania also for the nice design of

the exhibition and promotional materials...

Lina Eitmantyte-Valužiene, three illustrations from Hello, How Are You?

"Lithuania started visiting the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 1989, the year before its independence. 

Then a fledgling democracy, it brought to Bologna a rich and deep creative experience from its years 

of oppression. The limitations of stringent censorship had failed to restrain its illustrators’ imaginations. 

Their creative power in producing illustrations that were pregnant with allusions, 

and their technically exquisite and ingenious images proved to be a potent form of defiance.

The fine illustrators’ work from the years of the Soviet occupation not only made famous the older generation

of artists and illustrators, they also laid a solid foundation for a unique and demanding Lithuanian school of illustration.

It is marked by a diversity of styles and forms of expression, and artists are expected to speak in their own voices, 

to discover and to become discovered for something new and unusual. The middle generation of illustrators, 

who faced the challenge of creating a new Lithuania, showed a special resilience, as they had to forge a creative 

path through the hardships suffered in rebuilding the economy. The youngest illustrators are now committed 

to emulating their teachers. Their creative potential is no longer hindered by obstacles;

they have come to meet the challenge posed by the world that is opening out in front of them, 

and to embrace the abundance of new techniques, mixed media and different cultures."

from the Illustrarium website

Rena Žviliuviene, three illustrations from Kilipštukas the Elf

 Šarūnas Leonavicius, three illustrations from Human Star

Sigutė Chlebinskaitė, two illustrations from What’s Happening in the Yard

Leonardas Gutauskas, two illustrations from The Residents of the Old Tower

stay tuned for more...