Ex Libris 2016: Alice in Wonderland

The project started in 2015 for the occasion of 150 years since the first publication of the book "Alice in Wonderland." The union between the fantasy tale, the world often magical and mysterious of bookplates and The enchanted Woods it seemed the perfect setting to launch a new competition for both unpublished who published. Alice is an iconographic theme which is rather varied, offering many interpretive insights: it was so interesting to see how it was translated graphically by all participants. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a literary work published for the first time in 1865 and written by the english mathemati- cian and author reverend charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known under the pseudonym Lewis carroll.

The tale is filled with allusions to characters, poems, proverbs and own events of the era in which Dodgson work and the tale plays with logic rules, language, physics and mathematics that have done well to earn the fame he has. In our era of depressed, fortune seekers, selfish, romantic, uncertain, afraid, illusionists and deluded, the book of Alice in Wonderland is as timely as ever. As always, this competition brings with it a bit 'of its past, but also the embryos of what will be its future, as a natural evolution reinventing itself at every opportunity, and taking into account the suggestions of artists and enthusiasts. Now we come to the ex Libris: they have a propaedeutic component that may make it easier to love (and collect) both contemporary and past artwork, and give more visibility to the engravers of today, because the vitality of the ex Libris world is certainly superior to that of so-called free graphics.

The main feature of this year ’s “The Enchanted Woods" compared to the previous edition was that this time entry was free and extended to italian and foreign artists, rather than  only being open to specially-invited artists se- lected from the leading exponents of the genre. The number of works was considerable, though somewhat lacking com- pared to the past in distinguished foreign entries. invitations reached italy, russia, Turkey and France, Belarus and Lithuania, Mexico, Kazakistan and china, india, Ar- gentina and Japan, and the response was significant, though not always in accordance with the regulations of the competi- tion. This is why significant works had to be excluded, irre- spective of their appeal and content.

Ex Libris experts, who know all the artists who are active in every part of the world, will find various prestigious names here, but they will also have the surprise of seeing the work of engravers (and schools) who are (at last) approaching the world of Ex Libris for the first time. Everyone else, who knows little or nothing about Ex Libris and the art of engraving, will (we are sure) appreciate the creativity and variety of so many works inspired by fairy tales and myths, legends and dreams, collective or private as they may be. The work of the Jury was not easy, setting out as it did to give priority to all the works which complied with the regulations. In complete freedom and with no pre-conceptions, we have named foreigners as winners.

We must end with a well-deserved thank you to all the artists who chose to take part in this venture, in the hope that we will able to count on their precious co-operation again for the next edition of our competition  and in particular for the new edi- tion dedicated to The Jungle Book and the Disney Word.

Lina e Tommaso Lo Russo

Contest Winners

Unpublished Section:

1st Prize:   Not assigned and replaced by 4 ex aequo of the same amount	2nd Prize: Roberta Pancera C3 - Italy	3rd Prize:   Marius Martinescu C3 - France

4rt Prize Ex aequo:     Michele Stragliati C7 - Italy	4rt Prize Ex aequo:     Ryszard Balon Intaglio - Poland

Published Section:

1st Prize: Vladimir  Vereschagin C3 - Color Russia

Jury Special Prizes:

School Section: 
The great people of tomorrow

The work of the schools are particularly significant, especially considering the young age of the students. Taking inspiration from the educational message of Pierre de Coubertin, the Jury intends to assign the reward, or award a recognition, to the school as a whole, not just to the individual student. 

Special thanks and appreciation to the teachers who have followed the students and instilled in them the art and culture of ex libris.

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