Ang INK Turns 20!

Children’s illustrators’ group Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang INK) celebrates 20 years of Philippine Children’s Book Illustration with “20 Taon,” an exhibit at Ayala Museum, which opens tomorrow night and runs until Jan 15.

Here’s the official announcement from Ang INK:

Many of the illustrations in “20 Taon” are from bestselling books from major Philippine publishers, and have won both international and local awards such as the prestigious Prix Noma Concours, the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) Illustrator’s Prize, the Palanca Awards, Gintong Aklat Awards and the National Children’s Book Awards. Themes include science and the environment, mythology and folklore, Philippine history and interpersonal relationships.

“20 Taon” also spotlights a special supplementary collection comprised of new works by both new and veteran Inkies. Where the published works takes a look back, this collection makes a fearless forecast for Ang INK’s next two decades with illustrations for stories that have yet to be told. Conceptualized by InKies, these stories are indicators of what INKies dream of working on for the next 20 years. Covering themes ranging from the familiar to the fantastic, these as-yet unpublished works are an exciting mix of traditional and digital techniques.

Exhibit activities at “20 Taon” include:

• K-Zone Art Workshop for Kids by Jomike Tejido on November 26;
• Caltex Art Workshop for Kids by Domz Agsaway on December 3;
• Ang INK talk by Liza Flores, Mark Salvatus and Marcus Nada on December 3;
• Adarna House Art Workshop for Kids by Yas Doctor on January 14, 2012;
• An Industry Talk by illustrators, authors, publishers and book reviewers on January 14, 2012.

Ang INK is a non-profit organization committed to the creation and promotion of illustrations for children. It was founded in June 1991 as an offshoot of a Children’s Book Illustration workshop given by German illustrator Reinhard Michl, which was sponsored by the PBBY and the Goethe-Institut Manila. The workshop participants believed that a collective effort and organized interaction was vital to the professionalization and development of the industry.

Today, Ang INK’s membership includes full-time freelance illustrators, graphic designers, writer-illustrators, visual arts teachers and students and artists working in publishing companies, design studios and advertising agencies. The organization as a whole has also been recognized by the PPBY and the Reading Association of the Philippines (RAP). Over the years, Ang INK has also come to forge close ties with local book publishers such as Adarna House, Anvil Publishing, Bookmark, Lampara Books, OMF Lit, Tahanan Books, and Vibal Publishing.

Apart from book illustration, Ang INK likewise creates art for children for other media such as comic books, newspapers, magazines, websites, animation, murals, posters, greeting cards and postcards and merchandise. Ang INK also holds regular meetings and workshops to encourage members to continue to develop their art.

Ang INK’s annual exhibits go beyond showcasing the talents of its members by connecting with its young audience through art and art-related activities. Recent exhibit themes include Filipino children’s games, stories, dreams, school life, Philippine landmarks and historical events.

As Ang INK’s exhibit for this year, “20 Taon” runs at the Ayala Museum until January 15, 2012. Following this run, the retrospective will become a traveling exhibition as part of the Ayala Museum’s Education Tour. For inquiries on the exhibit or exhibit activities, call or SMS 0905-329-1050, or e-mail hello@ang-ink.org.

Do drop by the exhibit when you can — INK exhibits are always awesome!

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P.S. I’ve seen the ingress pictures of the exhibit and it looks amazing!!! I’m attending the opening night tomorrow, so I should have more photos for you soon. Oh, and I’m not currently an active member of INK, but surprise, surprise, one of my old paintings (the one in the book, “Mga Tambay sa Tabi-Tabi”) is part of the exhibit. Waah, I miss being an INKie!