Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1481871
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 OCTOBER 2022 4 BOOKS 'From Illustration to Book': the exhibition at the Malta Book Festival 2022 The National Book Council and Arts Council Malta announces that the exhibition From Illustration to Book will take centre stage at the Malta Book Festival THE exhibition From Illus- tration to Book will take cen- tre-stage at the Malta Book Festival from 23 to 27 Novem- ber at the Malta Fairs and Con- vention Centre (MFCC) in Ta' Qali. "The exhibition is the result of the collaboration between the National Book Council and Arts Council Malta, borne from the ambition of both cultural entities to strengthen profes- sional networks and subse- quently increase opportunities for the creative community," the National Book Council said. From Illustration to Book bridges visual arts with litera- ture and will provide a show- case for those illustrators and graphic designers working in and around the publishing in- dustry as part of the effort to provide more opportunities for professional and creative devel- opment, more accessibility to books and publishing for var- ied audiences, and attract the attention of foreign publishers seeking new ideas. The NBC said that 360 square metres of exhibition space pro- vided curator Dr Nikki Petroni with the freedom to create dif- ferent spaces tailor-made for the presentation of five themat- ic sections. "The main section of the exhi- bition will be dedicated to con- temporary book illustrations and designs, chosen following an open call for proposals. The work of fourteen artists will be showcased with their more re- cent work on book covers and illustrated books, such as chil- dren's books." A section within the exhibi- tion will also be dedicated to showcasing selected artworks forming part of the second volume of the Malta Illustra- tion Annual 2022 by the Mal- ta Community of Illustrators, which is supported by MCAST Research. The role of MCOI is to bring together and promote profes- sional illustrators, to push the use of illustration as an effec- tive communicational tool, and to provide education on the subject. The Malta Illustration An- nual 2022 will be launched at the Malta Book Festival and is sponsored by the National Book Council. It offers a broad spectrum of commercial and publishing illustrations and other personal projects, all cho- sen by a panel of distinguished judges. The works of Gataldo, a special guest of the Malta Book Festival, will be featured in this section, among over 20 other works. The NBC said the special fo- cus sections would be dedicat- ed to three Maltese personal- ities: household name Trevor Żahra, who, alongside writing his well-known stories for both children and adults, has also il- lustrated many of his books; the late Mario Azzopardi, a pioneer of new wave literature in Mal- ta, who also introduced new designs in his collections; and Maltese-American cartoonist and journalist Joe Sacco, best known worldwide for his com- ics journalism. Prints of some of their illustrations will be exhibited alongside the books showcasing their artistic work. A special section of the exhi- bition will also be dedicated to the illustrations of four groups of characters that have marked the childhood of many Maltese children across generations: Kunċett u Marinton, illustrated by Trevor Żahra; Fra Mudest by Frank Schembri and Alexan- dra and Wallace Casingena; the cats in Il-Qtates ta' max-Xatt (The Cats by the Shore) illus- trated by Lisa Falzon; and Steve Bonello's Ir-Ronnie. "A selection of books will al- so be showcased that were de- signed and illustrated by Mal- ta's leading twentieth-century artists between the inter-war period and the 1980s, the likes of Alfred Chircop, Emvin Cre- mona and Gianni Vella," the NBC said. As part of the collaboration with the National Book Coun- cil, Arts Council Malta will be organising a series of Meet the Artist sessions, panel dis- cussions with some of Malta's leading book illustrators and publishers, and an information session on their funding strat- egy. The full programme of events for the 2022 Malta Book Fes- tival will be published in the coming weeks. For the latest updates, follow ktieb.org.mt and artscouncilmalta.org and the National Book Council and Arts Council Malta social me- dia pages.