Bologna Illustrators Exhibition

The "Bologna World Illustration Awards Exhibition", founded in 1967, originated from the world's largest children's book fair - the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy. This award, known as the Oscar of the illustration industry, attracts more than a thousand illustrators to submit their works every year. They weave stories in groups of five paintings and tour the world to select works. As a weather vane for children's books and picture books in the industry, the Bologna World Illustration Awards Exhibition has attracted great attention from creators, art and literature lovers, and publishers.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Bologna Children's Book Fair, in addition to the annual must-see Bologna World Illustration Award Exhibition, the "60th Anniversary Exhibition" will also be screened, as well as a selection of original works from Azul López, the winner of the internationally acclaimed "Bologna SM International Illustration Award Exhibition"! With one ticket in hand, you can travel through the world of illustrations in a dreamlike moment.

Taiwanese illustrators make a dazzling appearance In this exhibition, the wonderful works of four Taiwanese illustrators will be on display, including Chen Weixuan, Huang Liangxin, Pan Xinping and Dai Weijun. Among them, Chen Weixuan won this honor again after 2021 and was shortlisted again for her work "Fruit Paradise". After being selected in 2021, David was once again recognized and invited to participate in the "60th Anniversary Exhibition". He stood out from all the illustrators from all over the world who had been shortlisted in previous years and became part of the project's visual identity, adding highlights to the exhibition.

This year's yearbook cover writer - Susie. Suzy Lee Suzy from South Korea. Li, winner of the International Hans Christian Andersen Picture Book Award, painted the cover of the yearbook "A Special Summer" for this year's Bologna World Illustration Award Exhibition, which kicked off this summer's exhibition and allowed us to pick up the lost innocence and imagination. Taking a break from reality may be a form of healing, a way to believe in infinite possibilities again. Let’s come and see the exhibition together this summer!

Five paintings weave a dream and tell a story. The exhibition space breaks the time sequence and falls into the infinite possibilities of dreams. The themes of the works in this exhibition are rich and diverse. There are 101 illustrators and 433 paintings, which is a record high in history. The emotional expression of the paintings is more profound, and the ups and downs of life are interwoven into moving pictures. Here, you are sure to find works that resonate with you, whether they are full of childlike fun, colorful and fantastic, or thought-provoking. The content covers daily life sketches, fables, and even highly creative visual expressions, with different styles, bright colors, and full of infinite imagination.

Exhibition area introduction: 1｜A Gate to the Quiet Dreams are fragments picked up from daily life, an expression, a scene, a sentence, which are pieced together again in the subconscious to become pictures. In this section, you can see the familiar Taiwanese fruit stall, which is a work by Taiwanese illustrator Chen Weixuan; you can also get a glimpse of illustrators from all over the world depicting daily life. When we leave behind the fatigue of real life, roll back the sheets and quietly fall asleep, we step into dreams together and find the simple and curious self in our hearts.

2｜Atelier de Rêves “He who looks outward is dreaming; he who looks inward is awake.” - Carl Jung If dreams are a studio, then Atelier de Rêves is the place where dreams ferment and are born. 21 illustrators use a variety of media and techniques to construct their ideal scenes and emotional landscapes, stroke by stroke. Each work is like a seed, quietly sprouting on the drawing paper, waiting for the audience to irrigate and interpret it with their eyes and hearts.

3｜Isles of Dreaming Dreams are not a continuous piece of land, but floating islands of dreams floating in the subconscious. The paintings here vary in style, and the content is either fantastical, poetic, or touching. Each one is a microcosm of the illustrator's worldview. You can travel freely, rub shoulders with the characters in the paintings, and resonate with the storylines. Some pictures will make children stop and stare in amazement; some pictures will touch the hearts of adults, making them think, be silent, or smile. Everyone can find his or her own "Dream Island".

4｜Dream's Gentle Echo The dream journey will eventually come to an end. When the sun shines into the room, it's time to wake up and return to reality. In the "Echoes of Dreams" exhibition area, visitors walked through the subconscious landscapes of 101 illustrators from around the world and immersed themselves in the emotions and imaginations they depicted. When the alarm goes off, does your dream end? Or is there still an unfinished story, quietly waiting for you to complete it? A new day is about to begin, but first, a cup of coffee.