For the first time in the history of The Day’s Library Series a book has won a prize for its design rather than its content. Klara Gudzyk’s Apocrypha consists of seven chapters: “Ecclesiastical Affairs — at the Turning Point,” “Social Mosaic,” “A Flashback to Historical Moments,” “A Few Portrait Studies,” “The Wind of Travels Far and Near,” “Seasons of the Year,” and “Fables of The Day.” They reflect the spiritual simplicity and refinement of Ms. Gudzyk, who does creative work because she lives.
The Gudzyk book, which came out in 2005, is an anthology of the journalist’s best articles published in The Dayover the last nine years, which were collected in one volume so that “readers do not have to clip articles from the newspaper,” said Larysa Ivshyna, The Day’s editor.
The book was meticulously prepared. The front cover features a fragment from the Ukrainian icon The Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Strength (first half of the 18th century, Dormition Cathedral in the Kyivan Cave Monastery). All the other photographs in the book were taken from the author’s personal archive or the archives of The Day. Among the illustrations are the original 18th- century Ukrainian icon Christ the Vinegrower , the icon George the Dragon Slayer (second half of the 15th century), and a mosaic from the Basilica of St. Apollinaris in Ravenna (Italy, 6th century).
The author was reluctant to accept compliments. At the Veselka Publishing House, where the awards ceremony took place, she said: “Do not write much about me. Simply indicate that I was one of the prizewinners.”
The creative accomplishments of the participants of the 11th all-Ukrainian competition Art of the Book were judged by Vasyl Chebanyk, Oleksii Mishchenko, Mykola Pshinka, and Voldemar Yavorsky, the jury head and director of the Kyiv Union of Book Designers, and others. Prizes were awarded to the Veselka Publishing House for Lesia Ukrainka’s Lisova pisnia (Forest Song), Naukova Dumka ( History and Architecture of the Ancient World ), Prosvita ( Selected Works of Borys Oliinyk ), and Svichado ( Rites and Dishes of Christmas Eve ).
COMMENTS
Larysa IVSHYNA , editor of The Day:
“We take a subtle approach to each book. A book is a personality. All the books in our Library Series are united by a common conception. It was no accident that for our first book Ukraine Incognita we chose a painting by Pavel Filonov and for the book Two Rus’es , a fragment from Cossack Mamai (by an unknown painter). For me both the color and the meaning are important. It took us a fairly long time to find the right idea for Klara Gudzyk’s Apocrypha . At first I suggested an idea that was later used in the design of the book-cum-album My Universities : a winged creature is flying out of a window open into space. It was meant to be an illustration of Serhii Krymsky’s comment: “There are newspapers that are like mirrors; The Dayis like a window.”
“Ms. Gudzyk did not approve that design, so we started looking around for something else. At first we found the color-dark green, which I like very much and which is the color of our ancient Baroque churches. Then we added some white, a chalk color. These colors convey a very important mood. A fragment of gesso ground underscores the reality, depth, and unpretentious nature of her writings. On the last page we added a historical photo that deserves a separate description: Klara Gudzyk is attending an audience with the late Pope John Paul II and is handing him the electronic version of The Day’s Library Series for 1997-99. We believe this part of our library to be our alibi where history is concerned: the things that we were writing, which most concerned us at that time, are now coming to the fore.
“I would like to thank the Kyiv Union of Book Artists and the Foundation for Book Printing and the Press for their recognition of our caring approach to the publication and design of one of our book.”
Voldemar YAVORSKY , head of the Kyiv Union of Book Artists:
“ Klara Gudzyk’s Apocrypha received recognition because of its beautiful and interesting design. The laws governing the art of book design are special. Above all, we assessed the book’s artistic merits. Today book design requires an extraordinary sensitivity to the palette. You cannot simply take a painting and scan it. This is a lack of professionalism. However, if we combine artistic ability and computer design, we can produce a high-quality product, like the cover of Klara Gudzyk’s Apocrypha .
“We used to have annual all-Union and all-Ukrainian book design competitions. But after the breakup of the Soviet Union everything fell apart. As the head of the Kyiv Union of Book Artists, I uphold this cause because I believe book design deserves special attention. This is the eleventh year of the Art of the Book competition, and even when we don’t have any sponsors, we still offer a token of recognition to the best publishers. We can always find the money for a prize certificate and a box of chocolates.”
