Belgium
Belgium A1115
Belgium, apart from its political importance by hosting the headquarters of the EU and many international organizations, is also famous for arts, be it classic, contemporary, art-nouveau, or avant-garde. In literature, Belgium has nourished such renowned writers as Nobelist Maurice Maeterlinck, Hugo Claus, Georges Simenon, and popular contemporary writers as Amélie Nothomb, Jean-Philippe Toussaint…, etc. Belgian comic strips, the so-called “the Ninth Art”, with such heroes as Tintin, Smurfs, Spirou, The Cat, Lucky Luke…, are loved by readers all over the world for many decades. The very highly appraised, prize winning illustrated children’s books, which are not only adored by children and parents, and well appreciated by collectors, but are also an important cultural export of Belgium to the world. This year, Belgium Pavilion features various titles from 10 publishing houses, and a famous and talented author-illustrator invited by Wallonia-Brussels International (WBI), who will also have book-signings for readers and will also speak at various seminars during TiBE 2019.
Rascal
Rascal was born in Belgium in 1959 and spent his childhood in Namur. After working in advertising, drawing posters for the theatre, he decided to devote himself to children’s books. Rascal uses multiple techniques to create emotion in his illustrations: pencil, charcoal, pastel, painting, collage, serigraphy, photography, engraving and stencil plate. He has been author or illustrator of over 100 books and has been awarded the Graphic Prize of the Bologna Fair in 1993 and the Great Prize for children’s literature of the French speaking community of Belgium for 2009-2012.