1st CJ picture book festival. Exhibitions and awards, and: 2nd CJ picture book festival. Exhibitions and awards (review)

English and Korean text

The CJ Picture Book Festival was launched in 2008 by the CJ Culture Foundation, an institution of the prosperous Korean CJ Corporation. It aims to support illustrated books that meet high artistic standards and speak across generations and nations. It does so in two ways: first, by setting up the CJ Book Awards, a contest recognizing original published and unpublished work, and, second, by hosting the CJ Picture Book Festival with exhibitions featuring the books along with original illustrations by the finalists. Both events offer insight into the variety and quality of the international art of book illustration. The exhibitions show one hundred recent picture books and illustrations by fifty illustrators selected by an all-Korean jury of authors, illustrators, and publishers from a total of more than 700 submissions from about 35 countries in each of the two categories. For the inauguration of the festival, an international books and illustrations by fifty illustrators selected by an all-Korean jury of authors, illustrators, and publishers from a total of more than 700 submissions from about 35 countries in each of the two categories. For the inauguration of the festival, an international jury presents awards to five works each from the field of newly published original picture books and from the field of unpublished picture books. A second exhibition showcases the work of one renowned illustrator. A unique feature of the festival is that it commissions musicians, artists, and film directors to adapt the work of the guest of honor to their own medium, thus demonstrating how picture books can function as sources of inspiration for other forms of art.

The festival took place twice in Seoul with David Wiesner and Květa Pacovská as the two first guests of honor. The exhibitions are accompanied by a voluminous, superbly designed and richly illustrated catalog showing the titles and pictures of all finalists. Every picture book featured in the exhibition and each finalist is presented with a brief bilingual (English/Korean) annotation and several illustrations. The second part introduces the guest of honor and his or her work. The catalogs thus give an extensive overview of contemporary picture book production and illustration; they allow one to discern stylistic tendencies specific to different nations as well as to identify global trends. Despite the (still) disproportionately high number of Korean finalists, the CJ festival catalogs offer a unique documentation of the state of the art of international children's book illustration and, with full-color illustrations throughout, guarantee aesthetic pleasure. The initiative of the CJ Culture Foundation is living proof that Korea enriches the art of picture illustration with valuable impetus and refreshing inspiration.