In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • 54.1/2016
  • Liz Page (bio)

International Children’s Book Day 2016: Once Upon a Time…

every year on or around 2 April, activities to celebrate International Children’s Book Day take place around the world as we remember Hans Christian Andersen and his wonderful world of stories. Since 1967, every year an IBBY National Section sponsors the special poster and message to the children of the world. In 2016, the materials are from the IBBY section in Brazil (FNLIJ). Author Luciana Sandroni wrote a story to accompany the poster in which she starts with the time-honored opening to any story: Once upon a time… Ziraldo—a favorite illustrator, designer, and cartoonist—did the artwork.

The 2016 ICBD materials can be ordered from the Brazilian IBBY section or downloaded from the IBBY website.

Bookbirds of Passage: From Iran to Denmark

in a small library in Hjorring in the northern tip of Denmark, 140 Iranian illustrations from children’s books delighted visitors. Since January 2015, the exhibition New Pictures from Iran has traveled throughout Denmark. It was the biggest exhibition of Iranian children’s book illustrations shown outside Iran, and we have proudly presented it in libraries, culture houses, and museums in every part of our small country.

This IBBY project has been driven by passion and a Suzuki wagon. Steffen Larsen, reviewer of children’s literature and known to every librarian in the country, drove his small van filled with the pictures from place to place. In every library or gallery, it was met with great excitement and pride—simply because it is a treasure trove of pictures. Forty Iranian artists, many of them internationally honored for their work, exhibited their talent in these illustrated children’s [End Page 73] books. The Persian cultural heritage is their playground, and they experiment wildly! The delicate lines known from Persian miniatures amaze the readers, and strange creatures of Persian mythology pop up in a modern context: they will embroider a picture, revive the linocut, dress figures in patchwork or silk paper—all with remarkable craft and artistic power. People leave the exhibition with a smile on their face, surprised by what they just saw. We know so little about Iran in our part of the world, and what little we know comes from media, leaving us with a picture of a religious society bound by tradition. These artists toss tradition up in the air and catch it again with unerring taste and modern angles. They shatter our picture of Iran and its inhabitants. They meet us in illustrations inspired by modern western culture, and yet they seduce us with that ancient Persian tone of perfect beauty. All to be seen in whatever central or remote library in Denmark where New Pictures from Iran grace the empty spaces between books or hang in an old bulb factory or in a hammam transformed into an art museum.


Click for larger view
View full resolution

Postcard art by Nāzli Tahvili.From the exhibition New Pictures from Iran

The exhibition is a follow-up to the first tour Pictures from Iran, made in cooperation with a private publishing house in 2006–7. The Muhammed cartoon crisis was rolling through our nation at the same time as our first Iranian exhibition rolled rather more quietly between Danish cities and the countryside. There is no need to say which event received the most attention. Nevertheless, it was then we first saw the surprised smiles that have kept us going ever since. Financial support from the Danish state allowed us to invite two Iranian artists to Denmark for a week, and we were taught to soar in the sky! Iranians belong to the element of air—just look at the pictures.

Later, in 2013, another Iranian exhibition, Anaarestan (country of pomegranate), was exhibited in Copenhagen, curated by Bibiana Denmark. Anaarestan is a traveling exhibition from the [End Page 74] International Youth Library in Munich, and again, Persian miniatures are predominant in the collection of illustrations.

Both of these earlier exhibitions were smaller and more exclusive than our present exhibition. When the urge for another Iranian exhibition in Denmark arose, we decided to do it in cooperation with...

pdf

Share