illustradays, the first illustration festival in Greece, returns for its second edition, bigger, more colorful, and more creative, under the theme Beam of light. By choosing this theme, the team shares their intention to shed light on the art community and their work, making this unique form of art even brighter.
The festival’s exhibitions are the first way to get there, but so does the connection between the community and the audience with international artists and professionals in the field. This year, illustradays announces ten guests from seven different countries around the world, who will be travelling to Athens to hold talks, creative workshops, and portfolio reviews with up-and-coming talents. Two of the guests will be part of the jury that will award three of the artworks selected through an open call.
illustradays 2022: Beam of light will be held on the 9-18 of September 2022 in Serafio City of Athens, with free entrance for the public.
illustradays is very honored to invite to Greece, the Mexican illustrator and curator of the international exhibition Le immagini della fantasia, Gabriel Pacheco. Pacheco got inspired by this year’s theme Beam of light, and through a retrospective of previous editions, he selected over a hundred artworks, by twenty-four international artists, to be presented in Athens in September. Along with Iris Samartzi, the festival’s Art Director for 2022, they were the jury members of the open-call artworks selection.
Among the interactive workshops coming to Serafio, there is one by Jesus Cisneros. Cisneros is a Spanish, award-winning illustrator, who generously shares his knowledge and expertise with artists by giving illustration courses, in physical and virtual classes, such as the learning platform of Domestika.
An interesting workshop will be run by the Lithuanian illustrator, Lina Dudaite, whose book Mysterious Lake, has been translated and published in Greek by microscope publications. The Czech artists, Štěpánka Jislová & Tereza Čechová, present their awarded book Hairless and are helping people to turn their personal stories into autobiographical comics during a workshop for adults.
The Belgian illustrator Gerda Dendooven, an Alma Astrid Lindgren Award 2023 Nominee, is preparing a talk around her illustration style and themes, but also a unique performance, where the audience will experience a rare opportunity to see an illustrator painting live, accompanied by music, in the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus.
Three Italian artists are also part of this year’s guest list. The creative duo of Carnovsky and Valerio Vidali will discuss the ways they approach their projects, how their ideas turn into creative applications, and the stories behind their techniques and aesthetics. Carnovsky will focus on their RGB project, where they create images, using a special practice, consisting of three levels, visible and distinct through the use of color filters. This is a project that was first presented at the Milan Design Week in 2010.
Moreover, Vidali will be part of the Beam of light awards jury, as the team was amazed by his successful participation in the selection jury of Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
Finally, illustradays, invites to Greece, the British designer and illustrator Sam McCullen, co-founder of dPICTUS, where international publishers and creative agencies present new ideas, discover talents and interact. In his talk, he presents The Unpublished Picturebook Showcase, where illustrators and emerging picture book artists worldwide submit their unpublished projects that are considered by a jury of more than fifty top international publishers. The most voted projects are showcased at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and presented online to hundreds of publishers, leading to dozens of published books. McCullen will also be the third member of the Beam of light awards jury.
The international guests of the festival are traveling to Athens thanks to the support of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura Atene, the Embassy of Spain in Athens, the Flanders Literature, the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in the Hellenic Republic, and the Czech Center Athens.
Talks are open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis, while participation in workshops is free, after registration to the festival’s site. Participation forms open in September along with the entire schedule. All illustradays activities have a free entrance!
Learn more on the festival’s site and social media accounts:
Site: illustradays.gr
Facebook: @illustradays
Instagram: @illustradays
Youtube channel: @illustradays
Press Office: Katerina P. Trichia, [email protected]
