Ukrainian illustrator Mariia Rizak has created the visual identity for the 64th Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF), which will run from 5 to 8 April 2027. This is reported on the fair’s website.
Rizak previously became one of the 75 winners of the 60th Bologna Illustrators Exhibition 2026. She has now been selected from among more than 300 exhibition finalists to develop the visual identity for BCBF 2027.
The visual theme for the upcoming fair is “Landscape”, chosen in response to border conflicts taking place around the world. “Landscape” is intended to be understood broadly—as panoramas and vistas; picturesque, abstract, realistic and spiritual scenes; rural, mountain and seascapes; as well as celestial and seasonal landscapes.
Rizak drew six landscapes featuring a city, the sea, the countryside, the sky, mountains and a forest during the Visual Identity Workshop in Bologna, which for 11 years has been held annually as part of the fair by the Italian design studio Chialab. After returning to Ukraine, Rizak produced the landscapes using embroidery, which formed the basis of the work, and sent it to the fair organisers as a parcel.
“We unfolded it and were amazed by Maria’s work. The textures shimmer; the yarn glows, sparkles or dulls depending on the intensity and direction of the light. The six landscapes are perfect! Interwoven, inhabited, uninhabited, crossed by bridges, roads, ships and railways—these are exactly what will make up the visual identity of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2027!”, the fair’s website says.
About the Bologna Children’s Book Fair:
- a professional children’s book fair held annually in Italy since 1963;
- since 1967, the Bologna Illustrators Exhibition has been held as part of the fair, showcasing illustrators’ work selected by a jury;
- the fair also presents a number of awards—the BolognaRagazzi Award, in four categories (fiction, non-fiction, new horizons (for the non-Western world) and Opera Prima (for debut works).