(April 22nd, 2016) The 53rd edition of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair closed on April 7th registering a great success both with the general public and the professionals, with an increase of 16.8% of foreign visitors compared to 2015. The fair is now continuing its cultural promotion worldwide. As a matter of fact, besides its international vocation, the event reach many culture locations all around the world through many different intellectual initiatives. The Italian Institute of Culture in Berlin is the chosen location for the third stage of the exhibition “Illustration for children. Italian excellences”. The exhibition describes the last forty years of the extraordinary quality of Italian illustration through the works of 18 great artists. The show was very successful during its stages in Madrid, first, and then Bologna, and it has landed in Berlin on Thursday, April 21st. It exhibits a rich selection of works, documenting the artistic development of very well known illustrators, such as Roberto Innocenti and Lorenzo Mattotti, and involving also young talents, such as Philip Giordano and Arianna Vairo; artists who in two generations reinvented the children picture book, and whose originality and richness of expression imposed abroad, where they received awards and accolades. Another highly anticipated event is the beginning of the tour of the 77 illustrators selected for the Illustrators Exhibition which this year celebrates 50 year, and which is considered the real spearhead of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The initiative has become one of the most important events at international level, offering a unique overview of the new trends in world illustration. Until May 5th the Illustrators Exhibition will be in Chicago, at the Averill and Bernard Leviton Gallery of the Columbia College, thanks to the collaboration with the Italian Trade Agency. After Chicago the exhibition will move over to Japan, stopping in five different art museums since July 2nd, and again, from spring 2017 to summer 2018, it will reach six cities of China, where it will be hosted inside some important libraries, most notably the Beijing national Library, and art museums. The Book Fair from Bologna will be present also in Abu Dhabi, at the International Book Fair to be held from April 27th to May 3rd, since it was asked to use its privileged role as international observatory on children publishing to enrich the Italian stand, this year’s guest country, with a choice of works from the exhibition “Illustration for children. Italian excellences”. (Red)
