Words+Pictures=Book, an exhibition of 30 original illustrations by 10 distinguished Malaysian illustrators, is currently ongoing until 3rd October at Galeri Petrononas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Daphne Lee, respected Malaysian children’s book author and publishing editor of OneRedFlower Press, reviewed the exhibit in her weekly StarMag column. Here’s a part of what she says about it:
The exhibition was Badolhisham Mohamad Tahir’s, head of exhibitions at Galeri Petronas, idea. It was his past experience as an illustrator for The Institute of Language and Literature that led him to consider the possibility of a picture book exhibition. “I felt it was time for picture books to be highlighted as a valid art form and I wanted especially to show contemporary Malaysian illustration,” said Badrolhisham.
His initial idea was to showcase award-winning Malaysian illustrators. A little known fact is that six Malaysian picture book illustrators have won prizes at the Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustrations. Three of these receipients:Yusof Gajah, Jainal Amimbing and Awang Fadillah, are part of the exhibition.
What makes this exhibition particularly noteworthy, however, is that it doesn’t showcase art from existing picture books: instead, the participating illustrators were given just five days to create a picture book from scratch. Words+Pictures=Book has been quite a success, attracting up to 300 visitors a day. Although Daphne has some reservations about the way the illustrations are displayed, she concludes that:
While I feel Words+Pictures=Book fails to convey the complexities of picture book art creation, it at least serves to bring the art form to the attention of the Malaysian public and also to highlight the important role of visual art in children’s literature.
…And that can only be a good thing. If you go to the exhibition, do let us know your highlights.