SLOVENIA, April 11 - State Secretary Marko Rusjan addressed the gathering at the Slovenian Pavilion at the opening ceremony of the fair: "I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who have worked so hard to present Slovenia as a Guest of Honour at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair: our partners and hosts, both Slovenian and Italian organisational teams, editors and publishers, and above all, the artists: writers and illustrators.

We are very proud of the wide range of children's and youth literature published in Slovenia. Some of these books have been the foundation for understanding the world for many young generations. Others have only recently appeared to feed the imagination of our children and youth along with those of us who read with them and therefore remain young at heart.

Stories, whether interpretations of folk tales or original works, are an essential part of human existence. In fact, the history of storytelling is history itself. But like literature and language, pictures and images are an essential part of humanity. Even more so in the last two decades, when technology and media have developed rapidly so that we are now constantly surrounded by visual information. Being able to decipher all this visual information is a key skill in a fast-paced society. Illustration in books for children and youth, whether stories, poetry, comics or graphic novels, is therefore an essential part of learning and developing the tools young people use to understand the world today.

Visual literacy, together with a high level of reading, as advocated by the Ljubljana Reading Manifesto for higher-level reading, are both key elements of democracy. Understanding the language of images is just as important as understanding complex texts. Both enable open, tolerant and curious communities capable of critical thinking. These are the kind of communities that are the foundation of a truly democratic society.

We are proud to present the work of many illustrators, writers, comics authors, designers, translators, proofreaders, critics, publishers, editors and other contributors to an international professional audience at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. We invite you all to see the rich variety of Slovenian books for children and youth, diverse in content, images, visual presentation and publishing approaches. Many events will take place over the next few days.

The main event is, of course, the exhibition of illustration works by fifty-five Slovenian artists, focusing on the twelve selected artists whose works are displayed in the covered area of the exhibition. In total, more than forty events are taking place at the fair venue and around the city. The Ljubljana Puppet Theatre will be performing at La Baracca Teatro Testoni Ragazzi. There will be panel discussions, readings, debates and presentations covering topics ranging from translation to artificial intelligence, publishing and reading.

The second exhibition opens tonight at the Libreria Giannino Stopani. There is something for everyone, so I am sure that by the end of this fair Slovenian children's books will be in great demand for translation and publication in Italy and elsewhere. Moreover, I sincerely hope that the stories, poems and images of Slovenian writers and artists will soon be read by young people all over the world. May this year's Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and Slovenia as its Guest of Honour, bring good books to as many young people as possible. And peace for all the children of the world."

During the fair, more than 40 events with Slovenian participation will take place. All the contents are intertwined, while each of the events is an integral form of promotion and establishment of our country and culture.

Slovenia will be presented through an illustration exhibition in the central hall, Slovenian comics will be assigned special shelves in Comic Corner in hall 30, while hall 29 will feature both a national stand and the stands of two independent publishers. The national stand presents books by various Slovenian publishers of children’s and youth literature, as well as publishers' workstations. The stand features a promotional film about Slovenian children’s and youth books, an animated film about Alma Karlin and presentational interviews with the authors, organised by the Slovenian Writers' Association. The Bee Curious anthology, the Top 30 brochure, the Italian version of the Slovenia Loves Reading brochure and the English version of A Book's Journey were reprinted.

The Ministry of Culture has allocated EUR 630,000 for the presentation of Slovenia at the Bologna Book Fair over the past two years.

"The Bologna Children's Book Fair is a fair of spring and rich imagination. Each year, the main hall is full of surprises and this time one of them is an exhibition of Slovenian illustration. The exhibition by the architecture duo Sara&Sara (Sara Badovinac and Sara Škarica) presents illustrations to the visitors in a subtle yet impressive way.

Illustration never stands on its own, however, and books and their Slovenian authors and publishers are always presented alongside originals and reproductions. Slovenian creativity demonstrates its wide span and diversity in a unique and inimitable way through the exhibition, as well as through a multitude of events at the fair and at various locations in the city centre.

Thank you to all the creators who are creating now and thank you to those who have made a present of such a rich tradition of excellence to today's generations. Thank you to the publishers and organisations who are actively involved in the book field and who are also working for all of us at the fair, since without you we would not be here.

Thank you to the team of the Slovenian Book Agency and the Ministry of Culture for their financial support," said Katja Stergar, Director of the Slovenian Book Agency, at the opening ceremony.

The Giannino Stopanni bookshop in Bologna opened an exhibition of Damijan Stepančič's illustrations from Peter Svetina's book The Blue Portuguese (Modri Portugalec), as part of Slovenia's being Guest of Honour at the Bologna Children's Book Fair.

"Book illustration has a rich history in Slovenia and has achieved an exceptionally high level of quality, which is why it is a great honour for Slovenia to be the Guest of Honour at the largest international fair for children and youth literature in Bologna.

Slovenia is supporting the development of high quality illustration by presenting 59 artists in Bologna this year, thus opening up the opportunity for them to be recognised internationally. We hope that this year's selection of artists will also inspire future generations of illustrators.

Illustrations not only illuminate stories, they enrich our reading experience. We must strive to ensure that children's illustration is of high quality, as it is often the first contact with art for children and an experience that will keep them coming back to literature throughout their lives.

Children's illustration plays an important role in the development of children's imagination and creativity, helping them to better understand the story, complex concepts and emotions, and is a gateway into the world of visual culture.

The exhibition of illustrations by Damijan Stepančič, which we are opening today, is also an opportunity to present in greater detail the work of this illustrator with a distinctive, original style. Damjan Stepančič's work is characterised by originality, humour, a relaxed spirit and precision, using a variety of techniques ranging from ink to acrylic, cut and paste technique and scratching.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Damijan Stepančič for his outstanding work. I would also like to thank all those who have contributed to the organisation and setting up of this exhibition, all those who are presenting in Bologna works from our treasure trove of book illustration, and all those who are thinking of new, perhaps unknown and uncharted paths for its development," added the State Secretary at the opening of the exhibition.