The majority of foreign guests to the Vilnius Book Fair this year come from Ukraine. One of them is Romana Romanyšyn and Andrijus Lesivas, creators of wonderful children's books, who will not only present books, open an exhibition, conduct workshops, but also invite you to build and create.
Three of the author's books have already appeared in Lithuanian: the publishing house "Baltų lankų vadovėliai" has published the books "Garsiai, tiliai, kuždomis" and "Taip aš matau", and last year, after the war had already started in Ukraine, the "Baltos lankos" publishing house published the illustrated book "How War Changed Ronda" (translated from Ukrainian by Donata Rinkevičienė).
It is true, although the book was created a little earlier, the authors themselves say that in the context of the current war, its relevance has not decreased at all, on the contrary, it has even increased.
"Then, after the Maidan revolution and 2014 After the annexation of Crimea, the country really felt that parents do not know how to explain to their children what happened, what the war is, why it started and came to their homes. Seeing this, we decided to create an illustrated book that helps to better understand the situation, allowing to start a conversation with children about the war, about what is happening. We thought it could be a kind of therapeutic book: when you start talking out loud about what you fear or don't understand, you gradually start to understand and fear less. And very little has changed since then. We have intuitively chosen simple metaphors for our book, which are clearly understandable and relate to the painful reality - now we all, like the heroes of our book, fight against the darkness. And we will definitely win", the authors of the book, who call themselves the creative duo "Agrafka", said in an interview.
Ode to peace and hope
How War Changed Ronda is an ode to peace and hope. A duo of Ukrainian authors created a sensitive story about the special, fragile, blooming city of Rondo. Its inhabitants are extraordinary and extremely delicate, they nurture gardens and parks, sing, draw, and write poetry. But one ordinary day, life in Ronde suddenly comes to a screeching halt: as if out of nowhere, a black, terrible War comes crashing and screeching. Everything he touches disappears into thick blackness.
Three very brave friends Danka, Fabian and Zirka stand up against Kara, although at first they don't know how to fight him. Danka believes that in order to win, you need to hit Kara in the heart, but it doesn't take long to understand: Kara has no heart... Will the townspeople be able to defend their special Ronda together? Can everything be restored and repaired after the war? Why are the bright red poppies blooming in Rondo? You will find the answers to these and other sensitive questions in a book by Ukrainian authors, intended for both children and adults.
The book was first published in Ukraine in 2015 and in the same year won the "NEW HORIZONS BolognaRagazzi" award at the international children's book fair in Bologna, as well as many other awards.
The authors emphasize that every, even the smallest detail is important to them in the creative process. For example – selected colors.
"The book is initially very bright, with many bright colors reflecting the peaceful and bright life of the town. And then the whole color scheme suddenly changes, dark colors prevail, there is no more light. We even wrote white letters on a black background - and everyone knows that it's hard to read like that, it's very inconvenient. But that's what we wanted to let you feel - the war makes our lives uncomfortable.
And at the end, when evil is defeated, the light returns. It is light and darkness that are the most important symbols in this book - the darkness of war is defeated by the light created by the people of Rondo. A light that symbolizes culture, science, ideas," said the creators of the book.
Meetings at the fair and beyond
The duo of Ukrainian artists will not only meet readers, actively participate in the events of the fair program curated by the Ukrainian festival "Book Arsenal" and the Lithuanian Institute of Culture, but will also share the secrets of professional excellence with students.
On Thursday, February 23, from 10.00 to 11.30 a.m., the Vilnius Academy of Arts will host a master class in English for students "Creating a book. Dig deep / Creation of the book. Dive deep."
O LITEXPO Picture book creators "Agrafka" on Friday, February 4, at 24 p.m. and Saturday the 13th at 25:11.30 a.m. will present an exhibition of his book illustrations and interact with readers. By the way, after the fair, the exhibition will move to the Lithuanian National Library of Martynas Mažvydas, where it will be on display from March 1. will also be available for viewing by anyone who wishes.
One of the most interesting events is the creative hour "Rebuilding Ronda". The creative duo A. Lesivas and R. Romanyšyn invite you to express your creativity - to create a joint large-format drawing based on the book "How War Changed Ronda". You can join the drawing on Friday, February 24, 13.30:14.30-25:12.30 p.m. and Saturday, February 13.30, XNUMX:XNUMX-XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.
Saturday from 15 to 16.30:XNUMX p.m. pre-registration will be held portfolio previews, and on the last day of the fair, Sunday, at 15 p.m. In the space of the forum there will be a conversation about how literature on important topics is born. Author R. Romanyšyn and A. Lesiva will be interviewed by Rūta Elijošaitytė-Kaikarė.
The authors will sign autographs at the "Balta Lanka" publishing house on Friday, February 24, at 15 p.m. and Sunday the 26th at 16 p.m. You can also meet them at the Ukrainian Book Institute stand 3.02f: they will sign autographs here on Sunday, February 26, at 12 o'clock.
