Illustration Festivals and Book Fairs in the Development of Ukrainian Illustration as a Sector of Creative Industries

The purpose of the article is to clarify the meaning and functions of illustration festivals and book fairs from a socio-cultural perspective, as well as to determine and summarize the level of Ukrainian illustration’s representation in the international space through participation in such events. Research methodology. Empirical method, method of analysis and synthesis were applied. Journalistic materials on international events containing locations for the presentation of illustrative works and professional communication between illustrators were subject to analysis. Scientific novelty. The article considers the theoretical aspects’ importance of professional exhibitions of illustrators at international book fairs, competitions and festivals in the field of illustration for the development of this sector of creative industries. It is determined that these events are a powerful socio-cultural phenomenon and an effective platform for social communication between the main players in the sector. The events also perform a compensatory and motivating function for both professional environments and ordinary viewers of illustration, and their festivity and positive public response increase the illustration importance as a creative industries’ sector among the population. Also, for the first time, the article synthesizes factual data on the awards and prizes of Ukrainian illustrators, which exist in separate news publications, in the chronology of each event. It turned out that the most attractive for the participation of Ukrainian illustrators is The Illustrators Exhibition – Bologna Children’s Book Fair, as the chronology of achievements at this event is the longest and largest. The most successful illustrators in terms of international awards are Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv («Agrafka»creative workshop). Conclusions. Over the last decade, Ukrainian illustration has been actively asserting itself internationally. The works created in 2010 correspond to world trends and attract the attention of foreign colleagues, publishers and critics. In recent years, the promotion and PR of illustrators have reached a much higher level, which increases the publicity of Ukraine’s achievements and strengthens the prestige of the sector in the public. The constant worldwide recognition of a narrow circle of Ukrainian illustrators in the presence of many talented authors raises the question of forming a culture of Ukrainian illustrators’ professional ambitions, when presenting themselves in international competitions and festivals, submitting their work should be understood as part of professional activity. The presentation of Ukrainian illustration in such events can be interpreted as a tool of cultural diplomacy of Ukraine in the international space.

Online Book Fairs during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Online book fairs are being held in Vietnam to replace traditional offline events that have been shelved owing to the COVID-19 crisis. This study aims to explore book consumers’ perceptions regarding digital book fairs and their evaluation of the first-ever national online book fair held in Vietnam. In-depth interviews were conducted to obtain insights from people who had attended the online book event. The findings provide acceptance of and support for the organization of digital book fairs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendees generally appreciated the convenience of the national online book fair and the promotional programmes offered by various publishers and distributors. Furthermore, some attendees enjoyed the novelty of the event and the feeling of being included in the reading community. Nevertheless, most of the attendees highlighted several limitations, especially the lack of social and face-to-face interaction. These findings have implications for online book fair organizers, publishers, and book distributors alike.

New practices of literature distribution for children and youth in Siberia and the Far East

The article describes the directions of distribution of books for children in the Eastern regions of Russia that have appeared in the last decade. Based on a combination of landscape-reconstructing principles, surveys, and comparative typological analysis, the article presents data that expand previously studied aspects of the functioning of the main channels for the sale of books for children in the Siberian-Far Eastern region. It is shown that books for children are the largest segment of the Russian book market, which has been growing since 2008. At the regional level, they are widely presented in all book distribution channels: bookselling networks and independent stores; online stores; book departments of supermarkets (non-core retail); kiosks and stalls; book fairs. The purpose of the article is to analyze the current trends in the distribution of books for children in the region. Positive trends typical for the children book market in the Siberian-far Eastern region are identified. They are: the activity of children book supermarkets, the appearance of independent small stores of club-backstage format, the organization of specialized children Internet projects; increasing the importance of regional book exhibitions, fairs, festivals and holidays in the distribution of books for children; projects support by major Russian patrons. The significance of the study of new practices for the distribution of literature for children and youth in the region is determined by their influence on the formation of a new conceptual model for the popularization of reading, based on the idea of culture as a powerful lever of socio-economic development of territories.

Literary Tourism

The chapter intends to provide an overview on literary tourism valorization. The first part identifies its main benefits, main literary places (book locations, book film adaptation sets, places related to writers, literary attractions), and literary events (festivals, book fairs, and other events). The second part presents some issues on the demand side and provides the description of two possible literary journeys, with different connections with both literary places and products. The third part of the chapter is focused on how to effectively valorize literary tourism, through the design of valuable experiences.

Mathematics in the interwar period in Central-Eastern Europe. The report on an international research project for the years 2018–2020

In the article, we will show the main important results of the international research project The impact of WWI on the formation and transformation of the scientific life of the mathematical community. It was supported by the Czech Science Foundation for the years 2018–2020 and brought together ten scientists from five countries (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, USA, and Ukraine) and used the collaboration with historians of mathematics and mathematicians from many other European countries. We will discuss our motivation for the creation of the project, our methodological and professional preparations which profited from the international composition of the team and its longtime collaborations, profound specializations and experiences of the team members, and their deep and long-term studies of many archival sources and basic published works. We will present our choice of the general research trends, our definition of the scientific questions, and our determination of the main topics of our studies. We will describe our most important results (books, articles, visiting lectures, presentations at national and international conferences, seminars and book fairs, exhibitions, popularizations of the results between students, teachers, mathematicians, historians of sciences, and people who love mathematics and its history). We will analyze the new benefit that the project created for the future, for example, good platforms for future international research and cooperation, the discovery of many new interesting research questions, problems, and plans.

PUSAT LITERASI KOTA PONTIANAK

Central Connecticut State University stated in 2016, Indonesia was ranked 60th out of 61 countries regarding literacy. According to UNESCO literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, communicate, in various contexts. The National Alibaca Index said that most provinces in Indonesia have a low literacy index, including West Kalimantan, which is ranked 3rd out of 34 provinces. However, in Pontianak City, in the last 5 years, various literacy-based activities such as exhibitions, book fairs, discussions have been intensively held, as well as recorded more than 20 literacy communities in 2019. All literacy activities are organized independently and have no special space. Therefore, considering literacy needs and problems, the potential location for the design area is Jl. General Ahmad Yani, Pontianak City. However, there are problems where there is no standardization that can be used as a reference for designing a Literacy Center. Therefore, the design method used is the Design Thinking method, which, according to Kambel (2009), is a creative approach by gathering information and opportunities available to be synthesized into innovation and work ideas. Through this method, facilities such as exhibition rooms, classrooms, reading and collection, as well as spatial arrangements and forms are found to accommodate literacy activities in Pontianak.