Press Release: Exhibition: Sketchbook for a Journey

25 August–10 September 2011, Knjižnica Ivana Potrča, Prešernova 33-35, 2250 Ptuj, Slovenia

Exhibition: in August, Mon 12–19pm, Tue–Fri 8am–15pm, Sat-Sun closed; in September, Mon–Fri 8am–19pm, Sat 8am–13pm

Exhibition Opening: Wed, 24 August 2011, 6pm

Children’s Workshop: Sat, 27 August 2011, 3–5pm, Vrazov trg, Ptuj

Summary

An exhibition of original works by Andreja Brulc, a London-based Slovene graphic designer and illustrator, created for various book projects – including work for Beletrina (a major literary imprint of the Slovene publisher Beletrina Academic Press) and a children’s picture book Barvice. The exhibition is part of the Days of Poetry and Wine Festival and will be accompanied by a children’s creative workshop.

Exhibition

The title of the exhibition, Sketchbook for a Journey, refers to the creative process of moving towards completed work for publication and to the visual inspiration found on that journey.

Sketchbooks have been used by artists, designers and illustrators for centuries as part of their creative process. These books, such as the currently famous and fashionable Moleskine, are designed to be easily portable and are often kept in an artist’s pocket. As such, they offer a glimpse into the artist’s personal work, ranging from drawings, doodles and notes, through observations of the world and reflections on the self, to explorations and creations. The observation sketchbook focuses on the external world and is best known as a way of documenting and recording one’s experiences while travelling. The invention sketchbook, on the other hand, focuses on an artist’s internal journey while developing visual ideas. Some sketchbooks are self-conscious, with every page signed, while others are filled with seemingly random, hastily drawn sketches and doodles. Still, others reveal the progression of an idea or are conceived as a whole.

The exhibition, therefore, shows various pieces and fragments, some taken from actual sketchbooks, others being preparatory materials and finished elements produced during the exploratory journey towards not only finished work but also the discovery of new concepts and techniques. The exhibition shows a strong interest in typography and in combining illustration with photography, typography, traditional techniques such as hand-printing, stitching and patchwork, embroidery, knitting and crocheting, and industrial materials such as sandpaper and scrim tape.

Andreja writes, “Using a sketchbook to develop the ideas helps to open a valve in the brain that releases the pressure of what is unknown. Once the ideas are released in a sketchbook, they are like planted seeds that start to grow and develop. For me, a sketchbook is a place for visual experimentation.”

Children’s creative workshop

Children (3–18yrs old) will be invited to create illustrations based on the poem Lepa Vida v akciji by Andrej Rozman Roza. The pages will be into a picture book, which will be distributed in digital form.

Notes for editors

Andreja Brulc

Andreja Brulc completed an MA in Art History at University College London and worked in the Exhibitions Department at the Royal Academy of Arts for nearly ten years. After studying design, typography, illustration and printmaking at the London College of Communications (University of the Arts), she won a public competition to become a principal cover designer and illustrator for Beletrina. By the end of her fifth year in this role, she will have created around 180 book covers, along with with promotional material for books and literary festivals – and a series of murals in the publisher’s press room!

Andreja’s illustrations for Beletrina have been selected for prestigious national and international biennials of illustration. Her book covers were given an award of excellence at the 4th Biennial of Slovene Visual Communication (2009). She was nominated as an Honorary Member of the Slovene Design Society (2010) and has won the highest funding award given to an illustrator for 2010 by the Association of the Slovene Fine Artists’ Societies. Work for Beletrina was shown in an exhibition Book Covers for Beletrina in London (2010), accompanied by a literary event and a children’s creative workshop, which produced a picture book Tales from Slovenia. Andreja has also produced her first picture book, Barvice (2010), a book of children’s poems on 12 colours, written by Feri Lainšček.

She has worked on many other projects, including the UNESCO-sponsored public art project, Baptism at the River Savica, which dressed the principal statue of Slovenia’s national poet, France Prešeren, in a cloak covered in hand-made lettering from the poet’s longest work in verse. The national newspaper Dnevnik (22 May 2010) wrote that the poem was given “a form never seen before” and that “the project gave Ljubljana new artistic inspiration”.

Beletrina Academic Press

Beletrina is one of the most highly esteemed literary imprints in Slovenia. Beletrina Academic Press has gained its reputation primarily by introducing prominent works of contemporary national and world literature to Slovene readers. The publisher’s goal is to set standards for a new publishing philosophy which, in addition to focusing on noncommercial titles and giving priority to inventiveness, freshness and directness, respects authors and invests considerable effort in the promotion of their work.

Beletrina‘s list of contemporary Slovene authors is essential, focused as it is on highly regarded writers who not only attract substantial attention today but promise to flourish for decades to come. Although the imprint emphasises younger prose writers and poets, many older and established authors have contributed to its richness and diversity.

Days of Poetry and Wine

Days of Poetry and Wine, one of the most important European poetry festivals, will bring together poets from all over the world for the fifteenth consecutive year. The festival, which has to this day hosted more than 300 poets, will be taking place in the medieval centre of Ptuj. As tradition has it, poetry readings will be accompanied by other arts; several concerts, film screenings, street shows, performances, exhibitions, puppet shows, readings for children etc. will take place in the very centre of the town, which will be veiled in art installations for a whole week.

This year’s special guests will include: the Romanian poet Nora Iuga, French poet Jacques Roubaud and the Slovene classic Tomaž Šalamun. Each will be honoured by having a book of poetry translated and published, while the poetry of the other guest poets will be published in a multilingual anthology, Days of Poetry and Wine 2011. The accompanying programme will follow the central topic Poetry and Prose, on which a round-table discussion will be held. A rich selection of wines will ensure a relaxed, social atmosphere.

Contact

Exhibition:
andreja.brulc@gmail.com
www.andrejabrulc.com

Beletrina Academic Press:
info@zalozba.org
www.zalozba.org

Festival:
info@poezijainvino.org
www.poezijainvino.org/2011/

Images are available.

Advertisement