The "children-spectators”

The international illustrators competition “The Children-Spectators” belongs to the four-year project “Mapping - A map on the aesthetics of performing arts for early years”, an artistic research venture, supported by the European Union, looking at the relationship between early childhood (children from zero to 6 years) and the performing arts.

The project hosts each year (from 2019 to 2022) a selection of illustrators participating in the “Children-Spectators” competition. In 2023, a final show will gather a selection of all the works presented over the project. Illustrators art will be shown together with 4 guest international artists. Over this 4-year period, we received a total of 2,364 plates by illustrators from 72 countries, from which the 140 plates (by 129 illustrators) on display here were selected. 36 artists are from Italy, the remaining 93 are from 34 other countries around the world.

Participants sent one illustration created on the theme of the "children - spectators" of a performative event (theatre, dance, music, etc.) in which the performer meets a young audience. Each work was accompanied by a short sentence helping to interpret its meaning, to place it within a reflection, to imagine a sort of narration, starting from that image.


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