BIB opens on September 7 and will run until October 7. The programme will include workshops and symposiums in addition to the exhibition. Exhibitors from 45 countries are expected to participate at this year's BIB.
BIB was established in 1967 with support from UNESCO and a number of non-governmental international organizations affiliated with UNESCO, notably the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). Today BIB remains the only major non-commercial event of its kind in the world.
BIB's organisers continue to aim to provide a showcase for the introduction of the best-quality children's illustration works created in countries with more developed book cultures, but also to allow the possibility for illustrators from the rest of the world to present their work and gain exposure.
During the forty years of its existence, BIB has presented works from over one hundred countries, all over the world, with 5,382 illustrators participating in the competition with as many as 44,710 illustrations.
A workshop for fresh illustrators from various countries and continents - the UNESCO-BIB Workshop of Albín Brunovský - is traditionally held as a part of BIB. It was founded in 1983 in cooperation of UNESCO, the BIB Secretariat and The University of Creative Arts in Bratislava. It is named after the founder of the Slovak school of illustration Albín Brunovský.
Every BIB workshop focuses on a different theme, says chair of the Hungarian Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Csilla Sándor. They are tied to a story, specific book or motif. Past themes have included The Jungle Book (1997), Alice in Wonderland (1999), Fantastic Zoology, or The Present World Mythology (2001), The Traditional and the Untraditional (2003) and International Picture Vocabulary (2005). The theme for this year's workshop is Picture Book.
BIB will also host a symposium entitled Globalisation and Being Different (Reflected) in an Illustrated Book for Children.
Author: Katalin Almásy
For further information, please visit www.bib-slovakia.sk
