The Russian Cultural Foundation, in collaboration with the international cultural project Russian Seasons, announced the results of the international book illustration competition. The winners were: Russian leading art universities students, as well as an engraver artist from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
This year the contest was held for the first time and became a platform for uniting talented individual artists and creative teams from Russia and abroad aged 21-35. The contest's main goal was to create author illustrations for Russian writers' works. The contestants were asked to draw illustrations for one of the books: 'Scarlet Sails' by Alexander Grin, 'Kashtanka' by Anton Chekhov, 'The Blizzard' and 'The Shot' by Alexander Pushkin. Participants could choose the format, genre, and technique of their work.
The expert jury consisted of S. Mikhailovsky - Rector of the Imperial Academy of Arts, A. Sklyarenko - deputy chairman of the Academic Council of the Imperial Academy of Arts, and the illustrators. It was essential for them to uate not only the work's completeness of the topic disclosed but also the originality.
Based on the expert jury's work, three winners were chosen:
First place went to Svetlana Shnyakina, Moscow Academy of Watercolor and Fine Arts of Sergey Andriaka student.
Second place was awarded to Maria Gurikhina, Imperial Academy of Arts student (graphic arts department).
3rd place went to Bárbara Conceição da Silva Sotério, an engraver and tattoo artist whose work exhibited in collective and solo exhibitions in Brazil. In the summer of 2021, Barbara participated in the Art Session of the Innopractice School.
The winners will be granted diplomas. Their illustrations will be used for publishing books dedicated to their respective works next year, as well as published on the website and social networks of the contest organizers and partners