Monza, “Images of Fantasy”: from March 8th to April 13th in Villa Reale the 42nd edition of the International Exhibition of Illustration for Children

The 8nd edition of the International Children's Illustration Exhibition "Le immagini della fantasia" promoted by the Zavrel Foundation of Sarmede (TV) will be inaugurated on Saturday, March 42th. For the 28th year, the exhibition will be held in Monza. For the second consecutive year, the location chosen for the exhibition is the Orangerie of the Villa Reale, which will host the exhibition until Sunday, April 13th.

“Le Immagini della fantasia” is organized by the Monza Urban Library System and sponsored by AIB (Italian Library Association). The librarians also take care of guided tours, collateral activities and scheduled events: readings and workshops for adults and children, conferences, meetings with illustrators and authors, activities in the library.

During opening hours, there will also be a bookshop, managed by the “Tutti giù per terra” bookshop, which will also organize eight educational workshops for children aged 3 and up.

The five sections of the Exhibition

The five sections of the Exhibition tell the theme of the Game through 204 illustrations from all over the world:

1. The section Guest of Honor features illustrator Narges Mohammadi, an artist from Tehran. Trained at Shahed Art University, she has published more than 30 books around the world, from China to the United States, from Japan to Switzerland, as well as in her native country. In Monza she presents some of her illustrations of Alice in Wonderland and One Thousand and One Nights. The curator Gabriel Pacheco defines her images as capable of transforming diversity into harmony through a mix of different techniques, textures and colors capable of making the image “multilingual” where “everything serves to build a whole: visual layers that the reader […] perceives as metaphors. In a world where divisions seem increasingly evident, this assemblage reminds us that unity can also be found in diversity.”
2. The section Theme: The Game reveals the common thread of the entire exhibition, displaying the works of five illustrators who represent the game as a non-place, a suspended time in which anything can happen without affecting the real world.
3. The protagonists of the section Panorama: Image Games, from all over the world, present their idea of ​​contemporary illustration, where the focus of the representation is on the play of geometries and conceptual representations that – Gabriel Pacheco points out – recall Henri Rousseau, Antonio Ligabue, Saul Steinberg. Here the style becomes the driving force of the representation, the playful images with simple and spontaneous geometries bring us back to the simplicity of childhood, where we can be amazed without feeling the need for the artificial images that we are used to seeing on the internet.
4. The fourth section Pedagogy: Play and Knowledge translates into illustrations the pedagogical function of play, through which the child observes, grows and learns; while the adult can escape for a moment from the burdensomeness of everyday life, abandoning himself to the pleasure of suspended time. From game books to books that tell about play, the chosen artists visually narrate how important it is to know how to play.
5. As every year, the last of the sections exhibited is the one that tells The world of Štěpán Zavřel: Jacob the Jester. The painted woodcuts transport the observer into a dream world, telling the story of Jacopo, a jester who enters a convent but does not know how to pray, does not know how to work, only how to perform his pirouettes. One day, however, the Virgin notices his talent and asks him to honor her according to his abilities. From that moment Jacopo understands that not everyone can do everything, that the originality of each is beautiful, especially when it manifests itself through simple and spontaneous actions.

The “Exhibitions within the Exhibition”

Two further exhibitions are added to the main exhibition:

1. “Cinema Images” – exhibition of zoetropes created by the 4^L Scenography class of the “Nanni Valentini” Art High School of Monza.
2. “Bibliosacche Storytelling tools to play with books” – exhibition of bags, aprons and dresses from the stories made by the creative sewing group “ZigZag” of the Cederna library. The exhibition will be open to visitors at the Orangerie and the Cederna library itself. Each library of the Monza Urban Library System will also host a selected creation.

"We wish everyone to let themselves be transported by the wonderful “image games” and to rediscover the beauty of simplicity not only in the works on display but also in everyday life.” – observes theCouncillor for Libraries Viviana Guidetti - "I take this opportunity to thank the librarians, who during this period transform themselves into passionate guides ready to accompany the ever-increasing number of visitors. Thanks also to the students and teachers who every year enthusiastically accept our invitation to participate in the guided tours; a special thanks to the classes that this year have enriched the exhibition with their works".

Opening of the Exhibition

“Le immagini della Fantasia” – 42nd edition will be open to visitors during the following opening hours: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 10:00 – 16:00; Saturday and Sunday 10:30 – 18:30.
Guided tours are conducted by reservation by librarians: Monday to Friday 9:00 – 13:00 | 14:00 – 16:30.
For information and reservations: 039.324197 (Children's Library) from Tuesday to Friday from 9.30 to 13.00 039.2372952 biblioteca.segreteria@comune.monza.it
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Collaborations and sponsors: We would like to thank the Zavřel Foundation of Sàrmede for its long-standing and fundamental collaboration. We would also like to thank the technical sponsors of the Exhibition: the Libreria Tutti giù per terra; Monza per i bambini and the Lewis Carroll Society, media partner of the Exhibition. As last year, to ensure greater enjoyment of the exhibition, in an inclusive manner, respecting the right to participation of all visitors and guaranteeing equal opportunities, the collaboration with the National Association of the Visually Impaired of Milano for the “Describing” project.

The exhibition will be made more accessible also independently thanks to the presence of special QR Codes positioned near the works through which the DescriVedendo Certified Descriptions will be accessed, to be enjoyed by everyone both in accessible pdf format and in audio format.