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THE WORLD OF EX-LIBRIS
Press Release
- November 1995
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Following its well-established tradition of fostering peace, contacts and
goodwill, Switzerland has been the catalyst of an important international
cultural event in Belgrade, after the suspension of cultural sanctions
against Yugoslavia. In September 1994, at the initiative of and in
cooperation with the Swiss Embassy, the Belgrade Ex-libris Circle launched
two international competitions in the field of applied arts under the title
World of Ex-libris. Ex-libris, or bookplates as they are often called in
English, are small art graphics which a person pastes into his books in
order to identify them as his property. Information as to the competitions
was sent directly in 17 languages to several thousand artists all over the
world, and owners of ex-libris were informed through the channels of
societies of ex-libris collectors, in particular the Bookplate Society,
London, the Slovak Ex-libris Society, Graphia magazine (Belgium) and many
others.
The project was curated by Benoît Junod, Chargé d'Affaires of Switzerland
in Belgrade, and carried out in cooperation with the Graphics department of
the Faculty of Applied Arts of Belgrade University of Arts, the Belgrade
Ex-libris Circle and a great number of helpful volunteers. The main sponsors
of the project were Bel Pagette, Biomed, B&Z Graphic Studio, Fond Madlena
Jankovic, Jugopetrol, JAT Yugoslav airlines, M Import/Export, Pierre Cardin
international cigarettes, Publikum Printers, SBM Studio, The Soros Foundation,
Swissair, Swiss Concept, The World Serbian Community.
Over 1200 artists from 63 countries submitted some 6500 ex-libris for the
artists' competition, making it the largest event of its kind ever held in
this specific field of applied graphic arts. In June 1995, it took the five
international Jury members four days of intense work to select the winners
of the ex-libris competitions for artists and owners. Six successive rounds
of selection were necessary to reduce the number of candidates for prizes to
about 60 artists. In view of the impressively high quality of all the works
of these persons, beyond the eight prize-winners, the Jury decided to create
categories of `most highly commended' (five artists, one per technique) and
of `very highly commended' (48 artists) to honour the best work of those who
did not win prizes. The work of all 500 artists included in the 303-page
catalogue are already the result of a tough selection (less than one out of
two).
The names of the laureates were announced at the end of September, just
before the exhibition opened, and they were the following:
On October 6, 1995, thanks to the generous help of JAT and Swissair,
all prize-winning artists were in Belgrade for the ceremony at the
National Museum during which the awards were distributed.
34 Yugoslav artists' works were included in the exhibition Ex-libris
and their artists, which was presented in the Museum of Applied Arts
of Belgrade from September 28 to October 31 1995. It contained the
750 best ex-libris resulting from the artists' competition. A second
exhibition, Ex-libris Yugoslavia, presented in the Ethnographic Museum
of Belgrade the 125 best works by Yugoslav artists, and the 80 most
significant are illustrated in a catalogue. The exhibition and
catalogue also contain a study of the history of ex-libris in the
southern Slav countries by Dr. Caslav Ocic, president of the Belgrade
Ex-libris Circle. Special prizes were awarded to Ilija Knezevic,
Olivera Stojadinovic and Ivan Miladinovic.
The competition for owners of ex-libris, which is the first of its
kind ever held, also produced an excellent response (close to 100
owners, over 280 ex-libris). The texts sent by owners with their
plates give the reader a fascinating insight into what lies beyond
the image and the name contained in an ex-libris. The texts and
graphics were exhibited at Zepter Gallery, Novi Beograd, from
September 28 to October 24, 1995. The Jury considered the material
so interesting that the Belgrade Ex-libris Circle found additional
sponsorship to enable the 286-page catalogue to reproduce nearly all
the texts and illustrations submitted. The laureates were
These four exhibitions were complemented by a historical retrospective
of ex-libris from 1470 until today, consisting in the 600 finest
pieces from the collection of Mr. Benoît Junod. It was exhibited in
the National Museum, Belgrade, from October 6 to November 5, 1995,
and enabled viewers to understand the fascinating evolution of this
form of applied graphic arts from the time of Dürer to that of
Giacometti. Many works by major artists and for interesting
personalities, from Schopenhauer to Charlie Chaplin or Einstein,
were on show and are illustrated in the two-volume catalogue (454 pp)
published for this event.
The World of Ex-libris exhibitions in Belgrade in October 1995 gave
the public one of the most outstanding shows of this art ever brought
together. It was, moreover, the largest single visual arts event ever
held in this city, with 1800 graphic works of art exhibited
simultaneously issuing from a single project. It also enabled graphic
artists and amateurs here and abroad to resume contacts after two
years of severed cultural relations. Public interest was very high
for this event, and figures of public attendance will be available in
mid-November. It has already been established by three of the venues
that the exhibitions shown there have been the most visited events
since the beginning of the decade. Media coverage was equally very
high, with a total of more than 290 minutes of television screening
and some 50 press articles. A 60-minute video film of the whole
project will be available on VHS in January 1996 for members of FISAE,
the international federation of societies of ex-libris collectors.
As from January 1996, the three exhibitions issuing from the two
international competitions will start touring and will be presented
in London, Buenos Aires, Glasgow, Ljubljana, Lausanne, Bristol,
Montreux and later in Belgium, Italy and elsewhere.
The catalogues of the exhibitions, with more than 1000 pages and over
1450 illustrations of which many in colour, constitute a veritable
encyclopaedia of ex-libris, reflecting the hisory of this form of
applied arts from the Middle Ages until today. They are being
presented by Vreme Knjige at the Frankfurt book fair, and at the same
time by Ekonomika at the 40th Belgrade book fair. At the latter, they
were awarded first prize for the best design and the Makarie Prize
for the best printed books in Yugoslavia in 1995. They will be
available at exhibition venues, and as from January 1, 1996 from
Exlibrisbuch-Versand Klaus Wittal, Fliednerstr. 27, D-6200 Wiesbaden,
Germany, from Antiquariaat In de Roozetak, Rijksstraatweg 128A,
Postbus 82, NL - 6573 ZH Beek (Ubbergen), Holland, and from James
Wilson, 22 Castle St., Berkhamsted, Herts. HP4 2DW, Great Britain.
As was foreseen in the competition rules, artists and owners whose
ex-libris are illustrated in the catalogues will receive a
complimentary copy of the corresponding volume, within the first
three months of 1995. Before the end of 1995, there will be more
information available on Internet about the World of Ex-libris
project with examples from the catalogues, and the five catalogues
will be available on CD-Rom in early 1996.
One print of each ex-libris submitted for the competitions will be
auctioned in 1996, and the proceeds - as forseen by the competition
regulations - will be remitted to UNICEF for a humanitarian operation
in ex-Yugoslavia.
Further information as to the World of Ex-libris is available from the
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Obilicev venac 27, YU - 11001 Belgrade Tel. / Fax. (+381 11) 651584. E-mail address: eciric@ubbg.etf.bg.ac.yu |
