TRANSBOOK: the project

Transbook is a European initiative to promote the digital transition and internationalisation of the children’s publishing industry.Transbook is co-financed by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union and operated by seven European partners from the children’s publishing industry.
MISSIONS: THREE COMPLEMENTARY GOALS OF TRANSBOOK ARE TO: Encourage authors, artists and other professionals to adopt new creative practices and economic models. Help young artists in their careers. Foster innovative ways of connecting people with literature TRANSBOOK WORKS WITH EVERYONE IN CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING: Authors, illustrators, publishers, art directors and other book industry professionals such as children’s book fair organizers, booksellers and librarians.

NEWS

Studio Transbook is a creative resource centre on visual literacy & creative storytelling.
ABC (ART BASICS for CHILDREN) has collected a wealth of books, visuals, ideas and inspiring materials around language games, reading and (visual) storytelling. Typography, calligraphy, optical illusion, visual poetry and book making are just a few of the elements on offer to play with language/stories, experiment with image and the many combinations between.
The ABC Transbook-studio is all at once a library, exhibition and workshop. Anyone from 6 years of age can either freely or with supervision work creatively with paper sculptures, storyboards, poster design, haiku, print sets, bookmarks and much more. A feast for the senses, mind and heart.

ABC presented the studio during the International Literature festival Passa Porta in March 2017  www.passaportafestival.be
The studio can travel to libraries, culture centers and festivals.

ARTISTS & ACTIVITIES

ABC has in the past collaborated with the following illustrators as part of Transbook:

The Portuguese illustrator Andre Letria was born in Lisbon (1973), and works as an illustrator since 1992. He won several awards such as the Gulbenkian Award, the Portuguese Illustration Award,  … His books are published in the USA, England, Spain or Italy, among others. He has participated in international exhibitions like the Biennial of Bratislava, Bologna Illustrators Exhibition, Sarmede or Ilustrarte. He has directed animation films and created theatre set designs. In 2010 he founded Pato Lógico (http://andreletria.pt and pato-logico.com)

ACTIVITIES:

The Belgian artist Anne Brouillard, winner of the Grand prix triennal de littérature jeunesse Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.
More about Anne Brouillard: http://materalbum.free.fr/anne-brouillard/fichiers.htm

ACTIVITIES:

ATAK (aka Hans-Georg Baber) is one of the most brilliant and dynamic artists of the Berlin arts scene. Born in Frankfurt in 1967, he studied Visual Communication at the University of Berlin, was part of the former GDR punk scene and a co-founder of the comic magazine Renate. His work as a cartoonist, artist and illustrator has been shown in art galleries all over Europe. ATAK has published various works for children and today, in addition to his artistic activity as a free-lancer, he teaches Illustration at the University of Halle. His (heavily illustrated) website can be visited at www.fcatak.de   

ACTIVITIES:

Isol/Argentinia Isol (° Buenos Aires, 1972) is a writer/illustrator of children’s books and a singer. In 2013 she won the prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA), the ‘Nobel Prize’ of children’s literature. Since then, several of her books have been published in many languages, including English and Dutch: Nocturne, Secreto De Familia (translated into Dutch as Mijn moeder is een stekelvarken), and Beautiful Griselda are all unique, poetic and notable picture books that bear witness to a unique signature.  

ACTIVITIES:

Book presentation: 22th of september 2016 The Argentinian ISOL presented her latest book, ‘De Kleine’ (The Menino) on Thursday 22th of sept in the ABC-house: a talk about her way of working and inspirations, her love for music and for children… isol-isol.com.ar

How do you remember your first kiss? … was one of the questions we asked Isol in a special kind of interview: she had to answer to our questions only by drawing. Klick on the image to see all of Isols answers. Enjoy!

Icinori/France French duo Mayumi Otero and Raphael Urwiller are a couple united by their unbridled love for print. When their visual arts/illustrative forces are brought together they go by the name of Icinori, and create some of the most beautifully considered, traditional publications, pamphlets, concertina books and posters around. Mayumi and Raphael live and work in Orléans, France.

ACTIVITIES:

Workshop: Masterclass: 24, 25 and 26 february 2016 In the masterclass at la Cambre they challenged the students to work with a partner, and to create print by mixing different kind of techniques: a confrontation of two different kind of graphic and technical ‘worlds’ (during two days). In the masterclass of St Lucas (second year Illustration) they introduced the technique of pop-up books by showing many different kind of books and inviting the students to make their own try-outs by cutting paper. The workshop made part of a larger project in which the students look for a graphic and visual translation of an ‘Imaginary Island’ (during one day)

How do you remember your first kiss? … was one of the questions we asked Icinori in a special kind of interview: they had to answer to our questions only by drawing and in a couple of seconds! Klick on the image to see all of Icinori answers. Enjoy!

Kitty Crowther/Belgium Author and illustrator Kitty Crowther was born in Brussels and currently lives in Walloon-Brabant. She has created more than forty books, some of which have been translated in up to twenty languages. In 2010, she won the coveted Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, the so-called Nobel Prize of children’s literature. Crowther is currently considered to be one of the greatest talents in youth literature by both the general public and the international press. Her most recent picture book is entitled ‘Mama Medusa’. website Kitty Crowther …

ACTIVITIES:

Presentation of ‘Mama Medusa’: Using a lot of pictures and other visual materials, Crowther talks about the inspirations behind her latest picture book, ‘Mama Medusa’: her fascination for jellyfish, nature, mother figures… and for hair with magical powers. Afterwards, she reads the story aloud for a family audience (+4 years) 13 October 2015, ABC-house – 50 participants

Workshop: At the ABC-house, illustrator/author Crowther creates an imaginative combination of physical activity, dance, and drawing. After a short meditation, children and adults starts drawing their own and one another’s shadows, blindly making self-portraits, etc. (+7 years) 15 November 2015, ABC-house – 10 participants (7 children and 3 adults)

How do you remember your first kiss? … was one of the 23 questions we asked well known Belgian illustrator/writer Kitty Crowther in a special kind of interview: she had to answer to our questions only by drawing and in a couple of seconds! Klick on the image to see all of Kitty’s answers. Enjoy!

Jacqueline Ost/Belgium Jacqueline Ost is a graphic designer/visual artist. She was born in Zottegem in 1933 and lives in Brussels. In the early seventies, she published an eight-part series of non-fiction children’s books entitled ‘Comment fait-on?’. All the illustrations in the series are collages, the result of hours of meticulous cutting out and sticking together. The books were hugely successful in Belgium, France, Portugal and Canada. From 1975 until 1995, Ost worked as a professor and as head of department of the graphics studio at the Sint-Luc Hogeschool in Brussels.

ACTIVITIES:

Masterclass for ABC guides: “Ta mémoire et tes sens sont la nourriture de ton impulsion créatrice.” A. Rimbaud Ost gives an extensive presentation to the ABC team about her experiences as a teacher of Graphic Design: out of the box thinking, creativity training, collage techniques, the importance of freedom and experimentation in artistic education… 19 May 2015, ABC house – 10 participants

Exhibition: An installation/sitting area with a few blow-ups of Ost’s collages from the ‘Comment fait-on?’ series, and the entire book series for consultation. April, May, June 2015

ORBIS PICTUS “Orbis Pictus” is a collage composed mainly of remarkable images and inspirational quotes. The images (reproductions, photographs, illustrations, etc) are often art-related and usually deal with one of our current projects, either in the house or on location. As a result, “Orbis Pictus” is a poetic and graphic-visual translation of ABC’s work at that time, but at the same time, it is a timeless inspirational document. We borrowed the name “Orbis Pictus” from the Czech philosopher, theologian and educator Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1670). He attained fame from his “Orbis Pictus Sensualium” (“The visible world in pictures”), a manual in Latin and German from 1658, illustrated with woodcuts. It was the first children’s encyclopedia and in that sense the first reference book in children’s literature as well. An original copy of Comenius ‘Orbis Pictus’ can be found in the ABC-library. You can download a digital version or request a paper version of the Orbis Pictus at ABC.

Han Kihyun/ South Korea Han Kihyun studied illustration at the University of Seoul, and later in Tournai and Brussels (Academie des Beaux Arts). Website Han Kihyun …

ACTIVITIES:

Paper & calligraphy workshop Han Kihyun led a studio for children and adults on the Korean tradition of paper art (Takji) and on Korean calligraphy (Hangul). 22, 25 en 26 april 2015, ABC-house

Presentation of Kamishibai story Han Kihyun also presented a Kamishibai version of one of her own illustrated stories for a family audience. 22, 25 and 26 April 2015, ABC house – Participants: 30 (on 22/04), and 300 (on 25 & 26/04)

Dominique Darbois / France French photographer Darbois spent decades traveling the world, creating beautiful black and white reports of the lives of children, from Lapland to Cuba and Japan. ABC has Darbois’ entire ‘Enfants du monde’ collection, and is organizing a small exhibition of her work. A tribute to the committed artist who passed away last year.

ACTIVITIES:

Exhibition: DOMINIQUE DARBOIS (1925-2014) Photographer, world traveller, humanist

“Ayant été très amochée par le racisme, j’ai voulu montrer que les enfants étaient tous les mêmes. Le fil de ma vie de photographe a été de montrer la beauté des gens qu’on aime. La dignité d’une femme africaine, le regard d’un petit Chinois. Tout pour témoigner du respect de l’être humain.”

French photographer Dominique Darbois passed away in September last year after an artistically rich and politically committed life. Born in Paris as Dominique Sabret-Stern, to a Jewish family of intellectuals, at only sixteen years old she joined the resistance during World War Two. She was arrested by the Nazis and spent two years in a POW camp. She miraculously escaped being deported. After her release, she actively took part in the liberation of Paris, but then went to Indochina to join the army there. She began her career as a professional photographer in 1947-48, with a journalistic commission in Cambodia, and later in Guyana and in the Amazon region. Darbois spent her entire life travelling (to more than 50 countries!), and she brought back innumerable photographs from all her journeys. Between 1952 and 1978, she worked intensively on the ‘Enfants du monde’ series: The Fernand Nathan publishing house published popular books in which Darbois used black and white photos to sketch a faithful image of the everyday lives of children across the world. ‘Parana, the little Indian’, ‘Hassan, child of the desert’, or ‘Noriko, a Japanese girl’… these are just a few of the more than twenty titles. The remarkable thing about these books is how photos, text, and design are perfectly complementary mutually enhancing. Fernand Mazière wrote the texts for some of the volumes, adding an extra emotional layer and situating the books at the intersection between fiction and documentary reportage. For the layout, Darbois collaborated with talented graphic designers, of which Pierre Pothier was the most influential. He cut up and reconfigured her photos, and added lively and colourful graphic motifs to these montages. In that time, this was both daring and innovative. As a result, the books are much more than merely photographic documentaries. As a human rights activist and committed anti-colonialist, in the early 1960s Darbois joined the Algerian resistance. Her photo book ‘Les Algeriens en guerre’ was banned by the French government. She later also made photo reports in places like Cuba, Afghanistan and Africa, often combining political and social perspectives. Darbois was an exceptional woman whose uncompromising work testifies to her immense respect for (vulnerable) people and of an intensely involved humanist worldview. “La photographie permet de faire reculer l’intolérance en élargissant le champ de vision dans le sens d’une meilleure compréhension d’autrui, en faisant reculer l’ombre au profit de la lumière” (uit ‘Terre d’enfants’) Dominique Darbois The ‘Enfants du monde’-collection is no longer in print, but the complete collection can be consulted in the ABC Library.

ORBIS PICTUS “Orbis Pictus” is a collage composed mainly of remarkable images and inspirational quotes. The images (reproductions, photographs, illustrations, etc) are often art-related and usually deal with one of our current projects, either in the house or on location. As a result, “Orbis Pictus” is a poetic and graphic-visual translation of ABC’s work at that time, but at the same time, it is a timeless inspirational document.

We borrowed the name “Orbis Pictus” from the Czech philosopher, theologian and educator Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1670). He attained fame from his “Orbis Pictus Sensualium” (“The visible world in pictures”), a manual in Latin and German from 1658, illustrated with woodcuts. It was the first children’s encyclopedia and in that sense the first reference book in children’s literature as well. An original copy of Comenius ‘Orbis Pictus’ can be found in the ABC-library. You can download a digital version or request a paper version of the Orbis Pictus at ABC.

PARTNERS TRANSBOOK

EUROPÄISCHE KINDER – UND JUGENDBUCHMESSE (SAARBRÜCKEN, GERMANY) The European Children’s Book Fair showcases trends in European publishing and e-literature for a young French-German audience, with 35 international exhibitors, 150 events and 10,000 visitors over four days. http://www.buchmesse-saarbruecken.eu HAMELIN ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE (BOLOGNA, ITALY) This association promotes culture among children and teens via literature, comics, illustration and film, by organising workshops, conferences and courses. Hamelin also hosts BilBOlBul, an international comic book festival, and takes part in Xanadu, a nation-wide literary project in Italy. http://www.hamelin.net LITERÁRNE INFORMAČNÉ CENTRUM (BRATISLAVA, SLOVAQUIA) The Literary Information Centre was founded by the Slovak Ministry of Culture to federate and promote Slovak literature. The Centre also hosts seminars, meetings and international conferences for professionals in publishing and animated film. http://www.litcentrum.sk NOBROW (LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM) Nobrow Press is specialised in comic books, graphic novels and albums for adults and children via their subsidiary, Flying Eye Books. Nobrow hosts the annual East London Comics & Art Festival (ELCAF) celebrating graphic and visual storytelling. http://www.nobrow.net TANTÀGORA (BARCELONA, SPAIN) Tantàgora is a crossdisciplinary forum for the creation, production and sharing of innovative literary formats and promotes all forms of literature and the visual arts for all types of readers. Tantàgora also hosts the FLIC, an annual literary and arts festival for children. http://www.tantagora.net SALON DU LIVRE ET DE LA PRESSE JEUNESSE (MONTREUIL, FRANCE) With over 400 exhibitors, 161,000 visitors and 700 events, the Montreuil Children’s Book Fair brings together a diverse range of children’s literature and formats. The Children’s Book School offers courses in literary mediation for professionals working with children and develops new ways – digital and hands-on – of engaging with literature. http://www.slpj.fr

LINKS

WITH THE SUPPORT OF: