ALEXANDRIA – Saturday and Sunday June 1st and 2nd back to Alexandria Inchiostro, the illustration, calligraphy and art printing festival, al Cloister in Piazza Santa Maria di Castello 14. Over 30 guest artists, including illustrators, calligraphers, art printers between workshops, meetings and evening shows. This year’s theme is “Reflexes” which, after a quadrilogy on the environmental theme which continues in street art initiatives, such as those created with the artist Luca Font and Egato6 in secondary schools for #Beretraspartente (and in the practical actions for the protection of the environment implemented act inside the festival with “This is not a glass”), now look inside and take us on a journey into the human soul. It is advisable to book the bracelet for entry to the Cloister and free workshops.
For two days the city of Alexandria will become the capital of illustration and will welcome artists of national and international origin, united in the excellence of manual skills and graphic-visual expression. The Inchiostro Festival Association, under the patronage of the Municipality and Province of Alessandria, organizes the event thanks to the precious support of volunteers, professionals and excellent technical partners who, together with partner companies, manage to offer a unique experience for the visitor which starts already with the welcome party on Friday 31 May with AperInchiostro, in via Dante 45 at Inn Ale Cafè, with music and toasts.
The artists will be hosted in the Cloister, staying overnight in the Hostel, for work, discuss, perform and involve the public in workshops and shows that will last the entire weekend. Support for the event is entrusted to the important contribution of the members and fans of the Association, the main financiers through the donations at the entrance to the event and the many online reservations (also useful for booking the workshops), the contributions given during participation in the many cultural initiatives offered in the city.
Private companies are fundamental, which believe in a quality project recognized at a national level, and which find affinity between the excellence of their work and the skilful artistic craftsmanship capable of leaving a mark in the city. The main visual language of the event for ten years has been the black and white of ink, but now it opens up to all colors to broaden the appeal of the works created with many different manual techniques.
Together with artists of the sign such as calligraphers, they give shape to ideas, transmit and multiply their vision with the artisan printers who, with traditional printing techniques ranging from movable lead and wooden characters to the press, serigraphy, risograph and the cyanotype involve the public in experiencing this fascinating journey firsthand. From blank paper to art printing, from the desire to communicate to the press among examples of self-production of comics or participatory and unique editorial projects. Suddenly the time comes to stop.
Great journeys, explorations and new discoveries guide us and suggest a new direction. On the threshold, so as not to get lost in the labyrinth of the mind, we turn our gaze to fears, desires, impulses and thoughts that are formed, shaped, evolve freely in a continuous reflection between the self and the world, between the inside and the outside, between knowing and not knowing. We reflect in others to find ourselves, we reflect to understand the other, we draw new boundaries, we create new languages. “At that time the world of mirrors and the world of men were not incommunicable as they are now… you entered and exited through mirrors.” Jorge Luis Borges Manual of fantastic zoology (Mirror animals).
We thank the Sassi family, Cassa di Risparmio di Alessandria Foundation, AMAG Group, Libraccio, Pentel Italia, Camerano sas, Inn Ale Cafè, Il Chiostro Hotel & Hostel and CANEDIGUERRA brewery for their support. For their support we also thank the technical partners including Cartiera Favini, Aquattro Servizi Grafici, Borciani e Bonazzi, Enaip Piemonte, Casa di Quartiere, OrtoZero, Porto Idee, Ristorazione Sociale, Associazione Arbitri, The British Center, FAI – Fondo Ambiente Italiano – delegation from Alessandria, Kimono, Costruire Insieme, Egato6, Amag Reti Idriche and Amag Ambiente. Cultural partners such as Authors of Images, ACI Italian Calligraphic Association, C.atWork Creative, Tapirulan, Illustri Festival, Graphic Days Torino and EGAIR.eu are also fundamental
The artists
Every year the Festival welcomes around 50 artists among the best on the Italian and international scene of illustration, calligraphy and art printing who try their hand at works created in real time and exhibit their latest creations which can be purchased or will go to ‘auction. Among them the guest artists of this edition are: Carlo Stanga, Marco Somà, Olesia Sekeresh (Ukraine), Joey Guidone, Serena Gianoli, Alberto Casagrande, Margherita Caspani, Pablo Cammello, Toni Demuro, Matteo Baldrighi, Lucia Carlini, Carlos Lalvay Estrada, Daniela Ferretti, Giulia Garofalo, Andrea Oberosler, Mattia Picariello, Piger, Greta Puccini. The guest printers are Malleus (Tortona), Archivio Tipografico (Turin), Antica Stamperia d’Arte Busato (Vicenza), Betterpress Lab (Rome), Stamperia d’arte Fondazione Il Bisonte for the study of graphic art (Florence), Print Club Torino and with the huge new entries of Fallani (Venice) and Pica (Genoa). With the extraordinary presence of Riccardo Guasco, author of the manifesto and co-founder of the festival, Flavio Rosati and Anna Rossi of Authors of Images, Giulia Pavani of Morsi Editore and Gianluca Garofalo of C.atWork Agency.
Workshops/exhibitions/speeches and panels
During the day, visitors will be able to participate in free activities: illustration workshops, silk-screen printing, woodcut printing, movable type printing and much more. As a backdrop, this year’s exhibitions of the works of the Inchiostro Festival partners are presented and set up, including Mors Festival with “A meadow of berries”, Bo-it! with “Sconfinando Bologna”, the tenth anniversary of Betterpress Lab “Ten years of truth and resistance”. In particular, the illustrations of the ten finalists of the Inchiostro Festival Young Illustrators Competition will also be exhibited, which will see the announcement of the three winners on Sunday. The authors come from Italian and foreign academies, specialized institutes, schools and universities. Presentations and debates on the latest trends in the world of illustration are also held in the fresco room, as described in the programme, and are recorded to become part of the festival’s audio archive in the form of podcasts.
Performance/battles/music/dance
In the evening the cloister will come alive with artistic performances, graphic-sound experiments and video projections by the artists and other guests. In particular, from 9.30pm on the main stage you can watch “Riflessi”, a dance performance curated by Radic’Arte with the participation of the set designer and illustrator Martina Dirce Carcano. Followed by the now famous and eagerly awaited “Illustrators’ Battle”, where the guest artists compete for five minutes, two by two, drawing with strokes of ink on the “Sound Reflections”, soundtracked and performed live by Globular Waves – Komorebi.
The Euca – Komorebi DJ set will close from 11pm.
Poultice Festival
The festival within the festival is dedicated to children and pre-adolescents, educators and parents, and will represent an opportunity to discover and learn tricks and secrets of the illustrator’s, printer’s or calligrapher’s trade. Many workshops with only one imperative: have lots of fun! In addition to the workshops to be booked, the long-awaited “SOS cartoonist” returns: a gigantic coloring poster open to the imagination of the little ones (and adults who still feel like children) on drawings taken from “Nine Magicians”, by Martoz, Jazz Manciola and of the entire Trincea Ibiza collective.
Young Illustrators Competition
Every year Inchiostro Festival promotes the free competition for young illustrators, an international call open to all aspiring artists aged between 16 and 25, in line with the topic of the current edition. The artistic direction of Inchiostro Festival has selected the ten works among the best in competition, which will be exhibited to the public during the event. Three of these will be chosen and awarded by a jury made up of the same artists participating in the festival, with participation in the next edition as guest artists in all respects, included in the billboard. Furthermore, the first place winner will be included in the Annual of Italian Illustrators, published by the Authors of Images association and presented at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2025.
The author who shows the best talent and aptitude for illustrated books, in the judgment of the artistic direction and art directors of the C.atWork Agency, wins the second edition of the Editorial Award, a path of professional improvement for the purposes of planning and publication of its own illustrated book. On display are the works of Alessia Veroli, winner of the 2023 edition.
Finally, the author of the best illustration created with an art print will receive the special “Franco Sassi” prize, a Master’s degree to be carried out at one of the festival’s partner printers to conceive, create and print (on the press, in silk-screen or with traditional techniques), one of his own works in a limited edition. Anna Chiara Stagi was the winner of the 2023 award.
