Ukrainian artist Maria Haiduk, 17, wins illustration award at Bologna book fair
Ukrainian artist and illustrator Maria Haiduk has won the 59th International Award for Illustration, presented as part of the Bologna Children's Book Fair.
Source: Bologna Children's Book Fair website
Details: Haiduk, a student at the Lviv National Academy of Arts and a native of Kherson, received the award for her project Killing Gods, which explores the issue of ecocide and humanity’s relationship with nature.
The jury members were impressed by her work and artistic potential, describing her illustrations as balancing "boldness with sensitivity".
At 17, Haiduk is the youngest-ever winner of the award.
"I sincerely hope that this will help draw more attention to the issue of genocide that humans are committing against nature and animals. I would like to thank my mentors, Ivan Sergeev (Serbia) and Nina Ignatova (Spain), for their guidance, as well as Vitalii Zemlianskii, Dr. sc. nat., for his assistance in writing the scientific text (Zurich, Switzerland)," she wrote on Instagram.
This year, the competition attracted entries from 4,374 illustrators across 89 countries, who submitted 21,870 artworks. There were 324 finalists, including five illustrators from Ukraine: Maria Haiduk, Oksana Drachkovska, Sofiia Kupriianova, Anna Ivanenko and Olesia Sekeresh.
About the Bologna Illustrators Exhibition
The Bologna Illustrators Exhibition was founded in 1967 and has been held annually since then. The competition showcases the latest trends in illustration, promoting new talent among artists.
All the artists’ works are published in the Illustrators Annual – a comprehensive catalogue for publishers and illustrators worldwide, filled with comments from jury members. Published in Italian and English, it is distributed through international specialised bookshops. It is also published in Japanese by the Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY), in the Republic of Korea by CCOC, and in China by the Dandelion Picture Book House. Each year, after the fair, the exhibition travels on international tours to museums, art galleries and significant libraries in Japan, Korea, China and other countries.
The exhibition is organised as part of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy.
Background: In 2024, Ukrainian illustrators Polina Doroshenko and Oksana Domashych were among the winners at the exhibition.
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