Iwona Chmielewska
_and_Jiwone_Lee_(right)_on_the_stage_of_the_Teatro_Comunale_di_Bologna_during_the_awards_ceremony_of_the_Bologna_Ragazzi_Award_of_the_50th_Bologna_Children%C2%B4s_Book_Fair.JPG)
,_Jiwone_Lee_(1st_from_left)_and_and_staff_of_the_publishing_house_Changbi_at_the_Teatro_Communale_in_Bologne_at_the_Awards_Ceremony_for_the_Bologna_Ragazzi_Award_2013.JPG)
,_winner_of_the_Bologna_Ragazzi_Award_(Fiction)_2013,_at_the_50th_Bologna_Children%C2%B4s_Book_Fair.JPG)
Iwona Chmielewska (born February 5, 1960 in Pabianice ) is a Polish illustrator and writer . She is considered to be one of the most important picture book illustrators of the present and has been honored with the most important international awards for illustration art. Her awards include the Golden Apple at the Biennale of Illustrations in Bratislava (2007) and twice the Bologna Ragazzi Award at the Bologna Children's Book Fair (2011 and 2013). In German translation are Blumka's diary - From life in Janusz Korczak's orphanage (2011), Ojemine! (2014) and abc.de (2015) only three of her books have been published. In 2012 and 2016 she was nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize. Chmielewska's books mostly focus on philosophical questions and topics. In economic terms, they are particularly successful in South Korea. Chmielewska lives and works in Toruń .
life and work
Chmielewska studied graphics at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń and started illustrating in the 1990s. Her first illustrated books were children's books and volumes of poetry. At the children's book fair in Bologna in the early 2000s, Chmielewska met the South Korean literary agent and picture book expert Jiwone Lee. This encounter resulted in a very fruitful artistic collaboration to this day, which is shown, among other things, in the publication of more than 14 picture books by Chmielewska in South Korea. Chmielewska is known to South Korean readers under the name 이보나 흐미 엘레 프 스카. Her books are also very successful commercially in South Korea.
One of her books that is particularly popular in South Korea is Thinking ABC (2007). Therein it symbolizes all the letters of the alphabet in the text and shape so that for example, two screw the letter S form, or an alligator, whose mouth is gaping with a stick which A represents. In Poland, her picture book O wędrowaniu przy zasypianiu (2006) is considered one of the most important of recent years. In this book, Chmielewska uses the same image page for page, albeit with slight changes that repeatedly lead to new contexts of meaning. For example, the toes in bed that are not under the covers mutate into penguins at the South Pole or brownies with pointed hats. In Mexico, Chmielewska is best known for her picture book El bastón azul (2005), which is read at school there.
Blumka's Diary - On Life in Janusz Korczak's Orphanage (2011) is the first and so far only book by Chmielewska that has been published in German. It tells of the life in the Warsaw orphanage of the Polish-Jewish pediatrician and educator Janusz Korczak in the form of a diary. The action time of the book is the time before the Nazi invasion of Poland and the outbreak of World War II . The book has so far been published in Polish, German and Hebrew translations, the latter being translated into Hebrew by Uri Orlev . Iwona Chmielewska has been in Germany regularly since Blumka's diary was published to present her book. Most recently she presented her book in March 2012 as part of Leipzig reads , in July 2012 at the 2nd White Ravens Festival and in September 2012 at the 12th international literature festival berlin . There she was a member of the jury for The Extraordinary Book award .
The aesthetic richness and innovation of Chmielewka's books is also reflected in the numerous awards and nominations she has received for her books. Among the most important are the Golden Apple of the Biennale of Illustrations in Bratislava, which she received in 2007 for her book Thinking ABC (2007), the Bologna Ragazzi Award of the Children's Book Fair Bologna in the Non Fiction category , which she received for her book A House of the Mind : Maum (2010) received the Bologna Ragazzi Award from the Bologna Children's Book Fair in the Fiction category , which she received for her book 눈 (German translation of the title: Augen ) (2013), as well as a nomination for the German Youth Literature Prize in the picture book category , which she received for her book Blumka's Diary - About Life in Janusz Korczak's Orphanage .
Chmielewska lives in Toruń and teaches book design at the university there. Her works have been shown in various exhibitions, including in Bologna, Bratislava, Frankfurt am Main, Copenhagen, Ljubljana, Munich, Rome, Seoul, Tokyo and Warsaw.
Quotes from Chmielewska
About book design
“For years I have been watching South Korea become more and more a pioneer in this genre. Art and book design are very important there, in the awareness that the picture book means the first encounter with art for people. From South Korea I learned that you can also design books for children on the really important topics, and that art can be an effective instrument in this, strengthening sensitivity and creativity, but also the development of values. Values such as compassion for the weaker, tolerance towards the foreign, democracy ... "
Press review
General artistic meaning
“What clever ideas! And what deep pictures! Iwona Chmielewska has so far (unfortunately) been a blank slate in Germany, but has been decorated at the highest prices in Italy and Slovakia, loved and widely published in Korea. "
A House of the Mind: Maum (2010)
“In order to give the space that Maum occupies in us the necessary three-dimensionality, Iwona Chmielewska decided to use the physical features of a book (especially its symmetry / book center) in such a way that both the architectural structures depicted in it and people come to life by moving the pages, allowing a wealth of interpretations. An old woman holds a newborn baby in her arms. If we open the book, she proudly holds it up to the sky, if we move the right page slightly, she gently rocks it to sleep. If we close the book slowly, her lips touch the child's head. In this way, each page accumulates an almost unheard of "invisible" quantity. "
Blumka's Diary - On Life in Janusz Korczak's Orphanage (2011)
" Blumka's diary is an artistically impressive and emotionally touching picture book work of art that implements its topic in a way that children can understand - and that in a profound way."
“The book is very touching because it sneaks into this children's world on tiptoe, being careful not to disturb, because it finds a language that says great things in simple words. And because the pictures are melancholy and happy and full of ideas and attention to detail. "
“ There are many publications about Korczak . But none of them has remembered him and his pupils in such a poetic and reserved way. In view of the fact that today's children are relentlessly drilled for speed and top performance, the book offers a highly topical statement by Korczak, communicated by Blumka: 'The doctor gives us enough time to relax. After all, he says, growing is not an easy job. The heart has to keep pace with the bones as they grow. ' Reading this book means falling for it. "
“And Iwona Chmielewska's drawings and collages, which portray the children and their play in a thoughtfully naive and then again highly refined, create an atmosphere that expresses care and consideration. The tragic end is not named, but you hold your breath because of the love and respect in the orphanage. The Polish artist has long been internationally renowned, and now the young Gimpel-Verlag is finally making one of her books available in German. "
“ Blumka's diary works with a highly complex visual language and a deliberately simple text, which refer to the author 's intensive preoccupation with Korczak's life and work. [...] Whoever reads this book with children has to be courageous and empathetic enough to speak about the end of the children and their companions, which is only hinted at in the book. With Blumka's diary he has an excellent tool in his hands that is more than just that in its artistic and literary sophistication. It is to be regretted that this book did not make it from the list of nominations for the German Youth Literature Prize 2012 to the prize in the picture book category . it would have deserved it. "
눈 (German translation: eyes , 2012)
"In Eyes by Iwona Chmielewska, the reader is regaled with a vast array of objects from which to choose. He accepts awe as a corollary of knowledge and is compelled to continue the search. We are offered details, snippets, glimpses of lived experience, objects and animals; but never are we given the visual code that binds them together. This forces reflection, obliges mediation, prompts comparisons and similarities. But especially it creates an indissoluble bond between what we see and how we understand, between the astonishment at learning to see in a new way and the contentment of knowing. It is a very novel book, infused with a refined elegance forged by much courageous experiment and reflection. It is also a luminously hopeful book in which our capacity for sight is a way to the soul and to a new, deeper, more intense humanitas. "
bibliography
This bibliography is an incomplete selection. It is also not unequivocally clarified to what extent the books listed under original edition are actually original editions or are translations from another language.
| Original edition | Remarks |
|---|---|
| 1997: Poezje zebrane , text: Józef Czechowicz and Aleksander Madyda, illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Algo ( Toruń ), ISBN 978-8390352060 | Poems, not published in German translation |
| 2004: Kopciuszek , text: Zofia Stanecka, illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Muchomor | not published in German translation |
| 2005: El bastón azul , text:?, Illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Oceano De Mexico, ISBN 978-6074000931 | not published in German translation, German translation of the title: The blue stick |
| 2006: O wędrowaniu przy zasypianiu , text and illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Hokus-Pokus, ISBN 978-8360402054 | not published in German translation, German translation of the title: About walking while sleeping |
| 2006: Dla ciebie - wiersze miłosne polskich Poetów , texts: Adam Asnyk , Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński , Stanisław Baliński , Władysław Broniewski , Stanisław Grochowiak , Mieczysław Jastrun , Zbigniew Kalka, Jan Lechoń , Bolesław Leśmian Jerzy Liebert, Tadeusz Niciński, Adam Mickiewicz , Cyprian Kamil Norwid , Wojciech Jarosław Pawłowski, Jan A. Piszczek, Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer , Antoni Słonimski , Juliusz Słowacki , Leopold Staff , Julian Tuwim and Kazimierz Wierzyński , Illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, Publishing house: Algo ( Tor3816ń ), ISBN | Poems, not published in German translation |
| 2007: Thinking ABC , text: Jiwone Lee, illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Nonjang | German-language edition: abc.de , Gimpel Verlag, Langenhagen 2015, ISBN 978-3-945359-03-7 |
| 2007: Wiersze , text: Adam Asnyk , illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Algo ( Toruń ), ISBN 978-8389683182 | Poems, not published in German translation |
| 2009: Dos Personas , text and illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Océano Travesía, ISBN 978-6074002164 | not published in German translation |
| 2009: 우리 딸 은 어디 있을까 / uli ttal-eun eodi iss-eulkka , text:?, Illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, ISBN 978-8984141391 | not published in German translation |
| 2009: 여자 아이 의 왕국 / yeojaaiui wang-gug , text:?, Illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, ISBN 978-8936446185 | not published in German translation |
| 2010: Domowe duchy , text: Dubravka Ugrešić , illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Znak, ISBN 978-8324013203 | not published in German translation |
| 2010: A House of the Mind: Maum , text: Kim Hee-Kyung, illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Changbi | not published in German translation |
| 2010: Half Full or Half Empty , Text:?, Illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, Publisher: San Zhi San, ISBN 978-9867295705 | not published in German translation |
| 2011: Blumka's diary - From life in Janusz Korczak's orphanage , text and illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, translation: Adam Jaromir , publisher: Gimpel ( Hannover ), ISBN 978-3-9811300-6-5 | German-language edition is the original edition, published in other languages: including Hebrew (translation by Uri Orlev ), French, Polish |
| 2012: Kłopot , text and illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Wytwornia, ISBN 978-8393141234 | Published in German translation: Ojemine , Gimpel Verlag, Langenhagen 2014, ISBN 978-3-945359-01-3 |
| 2013: 눈 , text and illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Changbi | not published in German translation, German translation of the title: Augen |
| 2013: Cztery stronu czasu , text and illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Media Rodzina (Poznan), ISBN 978-8372788320 | not published in German translation |
| 2013: O tych, którzy się rozwijali , text and illustration: Iwona Chmielewska, publisher: Media Rodzina (Posen), ISBN 978-8372788764 | not published in German translation |
Awards and nominations
- 2005: the most beautiful book translated into Korean: Blue Stick / Blue Box
- 2007: Golden Apple at the International Illustration Biennale in Bratislava for Thinking ABC
- 2011: Bologna Ragazzi Award in the Non-Fiction category at the Children's Book Fair in Bologna for A House of the Mind: Maum in March
- 2011: Donkey of the month August for A House of the Mind: Maum
- 2011: Book of the year by the Polish section of IBBY in the picture book category for Blumka's diary
- 2011: Honorable mention from the Polish section of the IBBY in the literature category for Blumka's diary
- 2012: Toad of the month January for Blumka's diary
- 2012: Nomination for the German Youth Literature Prize in the picture book category for Blumka's diary in March
- 2012: Book of the month of the German Academy for Children's and Young People's Literature in February for Blumka's diary
- 2012; Donkey of the month from the dog's ear for Blumka's diary in March
- 2013: Bologna Ragazzi Award in the Fiction category at the Children's Book Fair in Bologna for 눈 / Eyes in March
Other awards:
- Recommendation as school reading in Mexico for Blue Stick / Blue Box
- Recommendation from the Museum of the History of Polish Jews for Blumka's diary
Exhibitions, participation in trade fairs and festivals
- 2011: Children's Book Fair in Bologna in March
- 2012: Leipzig Book Fair / Leipzig reads in March
- 2012: White Ravens Festival in Munich in July
- 2012: Presentation of her book Blumkas Tagebuch - Vom Leben in Jansz Korczak's Orphanage as part of the exhibition I am small but important - Janusz Korczak's children's republic, presented in illustrations and pictures in the battlements gallery of the International Youth Library in Munich from July 5th to 16th September
- 2012: Children's and youth program at the 12th Berlin International Literature Festival in September
- 2012: Frankfurt Book Fair in October
- 2013: Children's Book Fair in Bologna in March
Web links
- Portraits: international literature festival berlin - Gimpel Verlag - International Youth Library Munich
- Press review of Blumka's diary - Life in Jansz Korczak's orphanage : Süddeutsche Zeitung (PDF file; 1.57 MB) - Neue Zürcher Zeitung (PDF file; 627 kB) - Dog's ear (PDF file; 332 kB) - KinderundJugendmedien.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it/ragazzi/bibliografie/22482
- ↑ http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it/en/bolognaragazzi-award/winners-2013/fiction/1063.html
- ↑ http://www.eselsohr-leseabektiven.de/index.php?id=82
- ↑ http://www.ijb.de/files/pdf/Osteuropastudie%20RobertBoschStiftung.pdf
- ↑ http://www.eselsohr-leseabektiven.de/index.php?id=82
- ↑ http://www.djlp.jugendliteratur.org/bilderbuch-1/artikel-blumkas_tagebuch-3768.html
- ↑ http://sz-shop.sueddeutsche.de/mediathek/shop/Produktdetails/Buch+Blumkas_Tagebuch+Iwona_Chmielewska_und_Iwona_Chmielewska/7175119.do?extraInformationShortModus=false ( page no longer available , search in web archives was automatically broken ) Info: The link was broken marked. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from February 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://kinderundjugendmedien.phil-fak.uni-duesseldorf.de/index.php/literaturkritiken/461-chmielewska-iwona-text-und-bild-blumkas-tagebuch
- ↑ http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it/en/bolognaragazzi-award/winners-2013/fiction/1063.html
- ↑ http://lib.bibiana.sk/modules/UserInterface/search.php
- ↑ http://www.bibliotecasalaborsa.it/ragazzi/bibliografie/22482
- ↑ http://www.eselsohr-leseabektiven.de/index.php?id=82
- ↑ http ://www.eselsohr-leseablösungen.de/index.php?id= 100
- ↑ http://www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it/en/bolognaragazzi-award/winners-2013/fiction/1063.html
- ↑ White Ravens Festival
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Chmielewska, Iwona |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish author and illustrator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 5th February 1960 |