Exhibition

This exhibition is part of Bulgaria’s representation at the 61st International Children’s Book Fair, Bologna (April 8 – 11, 2024). The 25 selected contemporary Bulgarian children’s book illustrators are from different generations and have a variety of professional experience behind them. This selection is not a ranking, nor does it pretend to be comprehensive; rather, its goal is to draw the attention of the public and professionals to specific qualities and aspects of each artist’s work and to illuminate their approach to the literary text, the choice of medium, and their compositional and narrative techniques – those achievements that formulate what we most generally call style. Each of the selected artists is represented by a fragment of an illustration for a specific book and a QR code that leads to the content added to the booksforkids.bg project website: a gallery with more illustrations from the same book, preparatory drawings, and interesting details; curatorial text; biography and contact information; and a technical description of the publication, as well as information about other books by the same artist. You will also find the QR codes in this catalogue. After the presentation in Bologna, the exhibition will continue its life, traveling through different cities in Bulgaria.

There are classic Bulgarian children’s books from the second half of the 20th century, mainly from the 1970s and 1980s, which are an inseparable part of the lives of several generations of children, but also of several generations of artists whose styles they influence to this day. But this period, perhaps the strongest for Bulgarian illustration, has its own pre-history. As early as 1921, the artist Aleksandar Bozhinov made his Golden Book for Little Children. With art nouveau drawings and excellent quality in the printing, this book always enters the golden selection. Other iconic Bulgarian illustrators are Vadim Lazarkevich and Iliya Beshkov, who worked most intensively in the 1940s. Beshkov’s free ink drawings inspired the famous poet Dora Gabe, and based on them, she wrote the poems in the collection From an Elephant to an Ant (1955), which is constantly being republished (1). The trailblazing artist in the history of Bulgarian illustration is Lyuben Zidarov. In his almost century-long creative career, he illustrated Andersen many times, as well as the tales of Scheherazade, Mark Twain, and even the Harry Potter series. But a large part of the hundreds of titles are by Bulgarian writers, such as Mother’s Tear by Angel Karaliychev (2 and 5), which has made several generations of children cry with its shocking story about the abandoned swallow. In 1968, the innovative book for children and adults We, the Sparrows, by Yordan Radichkov (4), was published. Since then, this writer’s drawings have a reserved spot in the history of Bulgarian illustration. Stoyan Anastasov, Neva Tuzsuzova (3), Ivan Kirkov, and Aleksandar Denkov were all inspired by the folklore tradition. Gradually, several state publishing houses began specializing in children’s literature. The editions were in full colour, and the books had enormous print runs. After the 1970s, until the end of socialism, libraries with children’s classics from all over the world and many works by Bulgarian writers were published by the publishing houses Bulgarski hudozhnik (‘Bulgarian Artist’), Narodna mladezh (‘The People’s Youth’), and Otechestvo (‘Fatherland’). The illustrations were predominantly by Bulgarian artists, among them Ana Tuzsuzova, Petar Chuklev, Ivan Kyosev, Radoslav “Reme” Marinov, Tonya Goranova, Ivan Dimov, and others – two generations of illustrators with their own personal trademarks. The styles of their work and techniques are free and varied – watercolour, tempera paint, monotype, linocut, ink drawings, mixed media, and collages. The headings are almost always done in calligraphy or logotypes drawn especially for the particular book. The high level of the layout in comparison with the wretched level of printing makes a strong impression.

After 1990, the book market in Bulgaria was liberalized. The quality and artistic level of children’s publications declined in the first years of the transition. Retrograde practices in illustration and layout were imposed, the consequences of which were to degrade the taste of a large proportion of the readers, future parents. Over the years, the situation changed and new publishing houses appeared, with an affinity for quality publications, as well as new criteria and policies. This was a complex and interesting period that could be the subject of a separate study, but to which we will not devote space here. This exhibition limits itself to dealing with examples from the present. Some of the artists represented in the selection are established in Bulgaria and have been winners of prestigious awards, while others are just starting out their careers. You will notice that they are quite different – it would be difficult to determine their affiliation with any common school. But it is precisely these individual differences that make the picture of contemporary Bulgarian illustration vital and interesting. Sometimes the illustrator’s very first published book brings them international success. Other times, this comes only years later. We could distinguish two basic groups – artists and writing artists. But we could also make a division based on their educational background. Let us clarify that we call these artists “Bulgarian” because they were born in Bulgaria, but a large number of them, especially those born after 1990, grew up outside Bulgaria’s physical borders, graduated from specialized art academies abroad, and some of them live permanently outside the country. In the last two decades, the globalization of this sector has had an enormous influence on the shaping of the visual language – access to large forums and fairs, to online platforms, and cooperation with foreign publishing houses. For us, it was especially interesting to talk to the illustrators, to look into their archive, and to find out more about them and their way of working.

The project was inspired by the magic of illustration to create worlds and heroes, to tell stories in a universal language.

Anton Staykov and Svoboda Tzekova
Curators

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Credits

Illustrations introductory text: (1.) Cover of the book From an Elephant to an Ant, Dora Gabe, Iliya Beshkov, pub. Narodna kultura, 1955; (2., 5.) Lyuben Zidarov, Mother’s Tear, author Angel Karaliychev, pub. Sofia Press, 1975; (3.) Neva Tuzsuzova, Colourful Little Book, pub. Balgarski hudozhnik, 1973; (4.) We, the Sparrows, author Yordan Radichkov, pub. Nardodna mladezh; (6.) Stella Dreis, Happiness Is a Watermelon on Your Head, Phoenix Yard Books, 2013; (7.) Yassen Grigorov (preparatory drawing for Dear House Mosquito, author Zornitsa Hristova, forthcoming, pub. Tochitsa, 2024; (8.) Miglena Papazova, sock, fragment of a preparatory pencil drawing, A Boy or a Guinea Pig, author Julia Spiridonova, pub. Marmot, 2018; (9.) Kiril Zlatkov, detail from When I Want to be Silent, author Zornitsa Hristova, pub. Tochitsa, 2015; (10.) Alya Markova, detail from an unpublished graphic novella; (11.) Lyuba Haleva, detail from Merry Tickling Laughter, Part II, pub. Janet 45, 2017