2013/04/04

1^st NAMI CONCOURS

ATTRACTS GLOBAL RESPONSE

619 entries from 42 countries establishes event as major platform for illustrators

NAMI ISLAND, South Korea, 25 March 2013: The overwhelming number of entries to the Nami Concours marks the birth of a new illustration concours headquartered in Asia. The Nami Concours (full name: Nami Island International Illustration Concours 2013-NiiiC) in only its inaugural year attracted 619 entries from 42 countries. In a response that organizers feel bodes well for the future of the genre, both a wide spectrum of internationally awarded illustrators as well as those looking to make their formal debuts as illustrators entered their works.

Kang Woo-hyon, President, Concours Organizing Committee commented:

"We generally associate high-quality picture books with European illustrators and publishing houses. And, indeed, over the years prestigious events such as the Biennale of Bratislava through their internationally recognized awards have introduced to the world new trends in the genre of picture book illustrations. Thus it is only to be expected that these new trends have moved from Europe to countries all over the world. However with the success of the Nami Concours we hope that now a new vitality and new perspectives will positively impact and support the work of illustrators."

The main sponsor of this event is Nami Island. Since 2005 Nami Island, one of Korea's most innovative and popular eco-tourist destinations has hosted a children's book festival. These bi-annual events attract everyone from children's book experts to those who simply love children's books and see them as a vital component of every child's growing up process. Nami Island is also the sponsor of the IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Awards.

Despite the fact that this was only the first Nami Concours, entries were received from 20 countries in Europe, eight countries in Asia, seven countries in the Americas, three countries in the Middle East and in Africa as well as from Australia. The international jury with members from six countries and led by Junko Yokota, PhD selected 18 prize winning works and 11 for encouragement prizes. The jurors concurred on the fact that they saw excellent prospects for the future of illustration coming from Asia.

The international jury was comprised of Anastasia Arkhipova (Illustrator/Russia), Zohreh Ghaeni (Children's Literature Expert/Iran), Byung-ho Han (Illustrator/Korea), Yusof Ismail (Illustrator/Malaysia), Roger Mello (Illustrator/Brazil), Wee-sook Yeo (General Director, National Library for Children & Young Adults/Korea), and Junko Yokota (previously ALA Caldecott Committee Member, IBBY Hans Christen Andersen Award Jury/USA)

NAMI CONCOURS WINNERS

The jury convened in Seoul on February 27 and 28, 2013 for two days of intensive judging sessions. In the end they selected one Grand Prix winner, two Golden Island winners, five Green Island winners, 10 Special Award winners as well as 11 Encouragement Prize winners. The results are as follows:

Comments from the Jurors

Roger Mello: It's great to see that many forms of artistic expression were submitted. When there are infinite ways of expressing yourself through visual narratives there are no boundaries, no limits between readers and artists. Taking part in this amazing jury, I was interested in a contemporary dialogue between illustration and other forms of expression. To be contemporary could be understood as having regard on your own time from an "eccentric," unusual, point of view. To see the inside from the outside, like the children allow themselves to see. The book itself is an experimental medium that changes and we also want to see this movement, to see books that remain really experimental (even if they are not digital media).

Zohreh Ghaeni: Beauty and richness come from diversity. Thanks to NiiiC for giving me this opportunity to explore how the diversity of picture books make the world of children more colorful. When illustrators from different nations expose their culture through their illustrations, they allow children opportunities to develop their understanding of others, to be more tolerant and respect differences. This is the outstanding role of picture books in children's lives. We, as the International Jury, insist on authenticity and diversity as certain criteria. It is our hope that the young generation of illustrators around the world will immerse themselves in the ocean of their culture to get more and more treasures from the depths for the children of their country and of the world and to let children see the world from different perspectives in authentic ways.

Anastasia Arkhipova: It was a great pleasure for the jury members to see how many illustrators had sent their work to the Concours. At the same time there were limitations to the contest -- competitions are always like that, and many artists that were really good were not awarded or included in the catalogue. We had to choose the best of the best. One has to be brave to submit his creative work to be compared to other artists. We would like to encourage the illustrators, who put forth a lot of effort in their illustrations but whose works with merit were not chosen this time, to keep creating and submitting their illustrations for consideration. We wish them force, energy, inspiration and success in the future - perhaps the next time their work would be appreciated and awarded!

Yusof Ismail: Serving as a jury member for the 1st Nami Island International Illustration Concours for picture book illustration I was surprised to see the cultural differences and distinctive mode of expression in the illustrations. I hope this Concours will be a positive experience for the illustrators to find new meaning, value symbolism, and practice higher level skills.

Byungho Han: As a member of the Nami Concours jury I had great time appreciating the variety of visual narratives and illustrative styles found in each entry. As a juror, one has to always question whether ranking or comparing one illustration with another is really meaningful. However this process allows one to see the way artists articulate the narrative and in the end I found each illustration amazing and marvelous in its own way.

It is so evident in the number of awards won that it is hardly necessary to remark upon the astounding development of Korean illustrators. In addition, the quality of illustrations from other Asian countries, especially Iran, is astonishing.  European illustrations generally revealed good composition and I was glad to see the unique expression and authentic colours that only African illustrations seem to have. Overall, the quality of entries was high, meaning that the members of jury had to think deeply to distinguish one really outstanding work from another. I would like to thank the other jurors, and especially those who traveled from far away, for taking the time to be part of the 2013 Nami Concours.

Weesook Yeo: Before any consideration as a member of the NiiiC jury, I would like to say that it gave me great pleasure to simply see so many beautiful illustrations in one place.  Even though The National Library for Children & Young Adults, where I work, has a substantial collection of picture books, the opportunity to see so many original illustrations is, indeed, a rare occasion.  As a viewed the illustrations I tried to see them through the eyes of a child so that I could appreciate how each illustrator was attempting to communicate with children through their work.  There were many high quality and sophisticated illustrations, and it is unfortunate that they all could not win prizes!  The success of this, only the first Nami Concours, speaks volumes about the potential of organizations such as Nami Island, which respects the power of dreams and the imagination.  I hope that very soon the winning illustrations will be transformed into picture books so that they can be enjoyed by those who will delight in them the most our children.

Junko Yokota, Jury President, Nami Concours commented:

"It was a joy to be able to see so many works reflecting the unique cultures and sensibilities of many different countries gathered in one place, but it was a challenge to the jurors to have to judge so many high quality works. I fully expect that the Nami Concours, which is to be held every two years, will become Asia's representative international concours."

Grand Prix winner Sung-hee Kim studied Architectural Engineering at Hanyang University in Korea (1996-2000) and then completed her studies in illustration at HAW Hamburg in Germany (2004-2009). Ms. Kim has illustrated many books including Jeck Namu (Booktree) and Balgan Y대npil (The Red Pencil). In 2010 she was nominated for the prestigious Illustra Teatro. Currently she lives and works in Seoul, Korea.

Her winning work at the Nami Concours utilizes wood block printing techniques and took two years to complete. The jurors noted, "Not only did Ms. Kim effectively express Oriental sensibilities, her illustrations reflect strong compositional elements which allow the viewer to follow the storyline simply by looking at the illustrations." Ms. Kim responded, "In the process of completing these illustrations, I was able to attain a deep understanding of the soul of the monk making the wooden block, which I hope is well expressed in my illustrations."

Note to Editors:

Nami Island, the sponsor of the Nami Concours, welcomes over 2.6 million visitors every year. Of these 650,000 visitors come from over 119 countries making Nami Island Korea's representative eco-tourist destination. Nami Island was founded by Mr. Minn Byung-do (1902-2006) who, among his many accomplishments, was an early and consistent supporter of a variety of cultural activities including children's literature, music, and the fine arts. As a part of Nami Island efforts to ensure the continuation of this unique spirit, it began to host a children's book festival in 2005 in honor of the 200th birthday anniversary of Hans Christen Andersen. Since 2009, Nami Island has been the official sponsor of the IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Awards. In recognition of the island's commitment to preserving its natural beauty and its role as a safe and healthy haven for children it has also been formally designated a "child friendly" venue by UNICEF.

The Nami Concours Awards Ceremony and the start of an exhibition of the winning illustrations will take place on April 25, 2013 in conjunction with the opening of Nami's book festival. NAMBOOK-013 will continue to May 31 throughout Nami Island as it becomes in its entirety a "land of books." In this spirit the island's forests, hotel, and even its toilets and trash cans become places where visitors can encounter books. In the near future, Nami Island plans to open a library dedicated to housing its collection of children's books from around the world.

For viewing the collection of winning works, please visit http://www.namiconcours.tumblr.com/ 

Media Inquiries:

Fred Minn                                                               Angela Kim

Tel: +82 (0)10-2963-6337                                       Tel: +82 (0)10-3458-1220

Email: na146@naminara.com                                                 Email: niiic@nambookfestival.com or na340@naminara.com