n 2021 the XVII edition of the International Ex Libris Competition was held, organized by Lyuben Karavelov Regional Library - Ruse, "Ex Libris - Ex Trains". The theme was in line with the European Year of Railways for the promotion of rail transport as the most environmentally friendly, safe and energy efficient. This next edition of the contested race was held under the patronage and with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of Bulgaria and Culture Program of the Municipality of Ruse and passed again under the unusual and extreme conditions of the global pandemic Covid-19.
Despite the challenges of quarantine and limited mobility, 303 authors from 36 countries around the world sent us a total of 472 works for the competition. In the section up to 14 years there are 59 participants with 69 bookplates, in the category from 15 to 26 years old 94 young artists with 135 prints were included, and in the category over 26 years 150 artists participated with 268 small graphics. Representatives of Singapore, Mexico, Australia, Japan, Argentina and others joined the traditional participants from Turkey, Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Northern Macedonia, Romania and Serbia. The youngest participant, Romane Darveau from Canada, was only three years old, and the oldest, Hungarian-born Gyorgy Boros, was 87.
The coordinator of the jury this year was Theodor Likho - a lecturer at the National Academy of Arts. He made a living connection between the four juries, which included artists, cultural figures, members of the public, teachers, collectors, experts and young people. The children's jury from the School of Fine Arts in Angel Kanchev National Cultural Centre - Ruse, headed by Margarita Hrisandova, ranked the works in the category up to 14 years of age. In the category 14-26 years evaluates the Youth Jury - students from the National School of Arts in the Danube city, from the classes of fine arts and graphic design, led by artists Peyno Peynov and Grisha Kubratov. For the Laureate Jury, Theodor Likho invited the authors who won the Grand Prix in previous editions of the competition. Polina Petrova (Nikolova), a two-time Grand Prix winner and graphic designer in Sofia, took part in the judging in the three age groups. The composition of the international jury was especially serious for the three categories: Nikolina Djanovska - artist from Veliko Tarnovo, Doctor of Arts; Vasil Kolev-Vasilio, artist from Sofia, graphic artist, doctor of art history, lecturer at the Graphics Department of the National Academy of Arts (NAA); Atanas Atanasov - artist from Burgas, lecturer in the Department of Painting at the National Academy of Arts; Rosen Toshev, artist from Sofia, doctor of art history, lecturer in painting at the National Academy of Arts; Desislava Hristova-Tosheva graphic artist, doctor of art history, professor at the Graphics Department of the National Academy of Arts; Sasa Pancic - artist from Belgrade, Serbia; Veselka Nikolova - artist and designer at BNT - Ruse; Todor Ovcharov - graphic artist, lecturer at the Department of Graphics at St. St. Cyril and Methodius Veliko Tarnovo University; Anastasiya Salabasheva - Master of Informatics, book publishing expert and polygraphist, representative of FESPA - Bulgaria; Peyno Peynov - artist, teacher at the National School of Arts in Ruse; Grisha Kubratov - artist, teacher at the National School of Arts in Ruse; Peter S. Smith, UK - graphic artist from London, member of the Royal Society of Engravers, longtime director of Kingston College of Art; Tsvetelina Maximova - artist from Veliko Tarnovo; Rosen Krastev - artist from Veliko Tarnovo; Nedko Nedkov - graphic artist from Dobrich, director of the Art Gallery - Dobrich; Stanimira Tsaneva - Bakardzhieva - representative of the Municipality of Ruse; Nedret Yashar - artist from Ruse, professor of fine arts at Yalova University, Istanbul, winner of the Grand Prize of the jury and the audience at the MiniART 2021 Biennale in Ruse; Magardich Kasapyan - artist from Plovdiv, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences - Fine Arts. Professor of graphics at AMTII "Prof. Asen Diamandiev ”- Plovdiv, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts; Boryana and Kristian Mitevi - collectors, gallery owners - PS gallery - Varna; Elena Velikova - art critic, director of the Ruse Art Gallery; Krassimira Kirilova - artist, chief curator and Martin Dobroslavov, artist and curator at the Ruse Art Gallery.
With the GRAND PRIX of the competition, the jury awarded Erhun Sengul from Turkey for the ex-libris "Game".
The award of Lyuben Karavelov Regional Library - Ruse was awarded to Veselina Marinova from Bulgaria for the work "The Spirit of the Train".
Anna Stabon's small graphic "Lokomotywa" from Poland collected the most points in the first category under 14. The other nominees in the category are: Magdalena Aleksandrova, Bulgaria; Nikola Yordanov, Bulgaria; Agustina Brignone, Argentina; Natalia Marusarz, Poland; Ivet Aleksandrova, Bulgaria; Yevhenia Klimova, Ukraine.
In the category from 14 to 26, the best performers, according to the evaluators, were Anastasiya Shvedova from Belarus, who participated with two works - "Last Train" and "Signal Lantern". The others awarded in the category are: Naigeng Wang and Xingting Li, China; Adina Mukhammed-Rakhym, Kazakhstan; Qiao Zhuo, China; Andre Lim, Singapore; Anna Voitiuk, Ukraine.
In the category over 26 years after the winner of the Grand Prix were Mariusz Artur Danski, Poland; Ausra Capskyte-Sarauskiene, Lithuania; Giuseppe Calderone, Italy and Mariusz Gorzelak, Poland.
