#6. I went to the Bologna Children's Book Fair

Three minutes have passed, and thousands rush to the doors. I don't understand why. As I got to the main hall, the majority stayed behind to decorate the many empty walls. It must be a tradition. They go through the motions very naturally.

In less than ten minutes, every blank space has become a living work of art, with beautiful posters, stickers, postcards, and contact details from illustrators worldwide inviting visitors to look at their creations.

The artist came ready, hoping to have landed the best space to attract visitors' eyes.

It's both inspiring and overwhelming. It's inspiring to see the richness of styles, colours, textures, and thematics, and frankly, quite unique to know the artists behind the books. I witnessed this group of people refusing to get older by fishing every day into their pool of childhood memories, hoping other children would identify with their art and create new memories on their own.

It is overwhelming to grasp reality. The book industry is huge, and the competition seems brutal. Although feeling this way for a brief moment, I prefer to focus on the deep interest we all share in admiring beautiful drawings and paintings. We are connected by how we see the world; the realities of the actual hustle are just a part of it, not the whole picture.

However, I could have come more prepared in terms of promotional materials. I brought a sticker of my adorable little robot. It probably got lost in the sea of printed self-promotion, but at least it was a symbolic gesture to mark that I was there :)

Other inspiring moments

• The Virtual Illustrators Wall: with +1000 international illustrators, the 5th edition of the Illustrators Wall will stay online from March to 03 October 2024. The Wall offers visitors and sector professionals an opportunity to explore what's happening in illustration worldwide; it also gives participating illustrators an exceptional chance to show what they can do and introduce themselves, providing their email, website, social profile and bio. 
• Special initiatives that I was fortunate to watch (I'm sure there were many others): the silent book contest, Slovenia guest of honour, the comic corner, the illustrator's exhibitions, Chinese excellence and the 'When Everything Matters' Wall. Like going to a museum, these initiatives helped me expand my creative mind. I got to see books and authors that I otherwise would have never encountered due to language or geographical constraints. 

The exhibition When Everything Matters presents new works by leading Ukrainian and international creators. This project is a dialogue between Ukrainian illustrators, graphic designers, and artists from other countries, addressing essential topics in the language of illustration.

• Books, books, and more books: Throughout the venue, there were numerous opportunities to browse unique books. Although I didn't have enough time to read them all, flipping through the pages was satisfying enough to set up a new list of future readings. Maybe in a future Momentos issue, I will share with you my book haul. 

What a lovely way to invite participants to immerse themselves in the reading world, a rain of books.

Illustrated books for children are a completely new topic for me. I don't know if this is the most suited avenue for my artwork. What I do know, though, is that it's important to remain open, study all the possible options, and find inspiration where possible.

I don't know what the future holds, and I wonder if I'll get to publish a book, but I do know that for a day, it was interesting to find out how some books are made.

When we get to a library, it all seems so straightforward. It's kind of like going to the supermarket: You buy food every day but don't necessarily know where things come from.

The same goes for books. I enjoy going to bookstores and surrounding myself with beautiful books and engaging graphic novels, but knowing the amount of people and work that goes into each book definitely awakens a different sense of appreciation.

Thanks for reading.

Chirpily,

Natasha