Welcome

This year, when we celebrate the XXXV International Congress of Exlibrists, comes to my mind the first contact our municipality maintained with the world of the ex-libris almost eight years ago now. At that moment, the Catalan Association of Exlibrists considered that Vila-seca could be a good place where to establish its headquarters in order to preserve and promote the art that has in the engraving its authentic essence. I still remember the offering of hospitality and reception that from here we made extensive to you because our purpose was to be able to enjoy, as a city of the culture, the beauty and art. And art is what you have brought to us during these years. An immensity of works of well-known artists from all over the world who have their meeting point in our municipality and so, year after year, they have been enlarging a heritage that now belongs to all of us, because exlibrism has two slopes, the first and main one is creativity, art in itself, and the second one is conservation, which is the task done by the Association; these small works of art that suppose the exercise of imagining, conceiving and, definitively, creating an ex-libris, if they are not gathered in a place, they could hardly be enjoyed by those who do not have access to the peculiarity of such a work. With these words I want to strengthen the involvement of Vila-seca with your enormous task, and so might last in time an art that for being small in size is not less important and be sure that in our municipality you will always have a place to continue your work.

Josep Poblet i Tous Mayor of Vila-seca and President of the County Council of Tarragona

THE XXXV INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF EXLIBRISTS “CATALUNYA-2014”

At the beginning of an event that for us exlibrists fills us with emotion, the XXXV International F.I.S.A.E Congress of Exlibrists “Catalunya-2014”, we want our first thought and remembrance be for those who have already departed, they have left us physically, but what they have left us, their ex-libris, are not only a token of their art but also a token of their sensitivity, creativity, friendship and love for beauty. This is not only so with regard to artists but also to collectors because all of them are essential for the surviving of these small for their size, but great works of art that ex-libris are. Miquel Plana, Oriol Maria Diví, Santiago Estrany who ceased creating ex-libris not a long time ago and those who have previuosly left us are present in our remembrance. I have attended four F.I.S.A.E. Congresses, I am holding the presidency of the A.C.E. since 2006, I am a collector and a creator of ex-libris since 1967, during the first years in a modest way that has been increasing with the passing of time to exceed 400 ex-libris as a creator and 50.000 as a collector, I have also gathered an enough extensive exlibristic bibliography, altogether have let me to enjoy their contemplation and make some good friends. In 2010 during the XXXIII F.I.S.A.E Cogress held in Istanbul I presented the candidature of Catalonia to organize the 2014 Congress. Since that moment I started to work with the objective our Congress were as the ones I had previously attended but moving foward in the knowledge aspect ; for this reason I invited different people to bring foward their erudition in the creative, historic, sociological, anthropological, collecting... fields in relation to the world of exlibrism, which has allowed to gather 30 studies on the ex-libris theme and other many creations of ex-libris that united to those presented to the ex-libris competion organized on the occasion of the Congress makes it possible that we can count with some publications where almost all of it is reported. The work of other people has filled us with satisfaction, it has exceeded us, but although not with the desirable perfection, we have managed to carry out the publications and the exhibitions that we offer to our exlibrists friends who attend the Congress and also to the general public. I have always prefered doing things although I knew that they could be improved with more time, more preparation, more collaboration... but if we let time pass, if we expect to be more prepared or other people's collaboration, maybe many things never would be done. Communications sometimes arrive late, not well revised, to be looked over again but as we, fortunately, are not perfect I have always decided to do things although they are somehow less accomplished.

During the Congress we will visit exhibitions, museums, cities, we will award the artists who have taken part in the competion organized on the occasion of the Congress and above all, we will interchange ex-libris and knowledge. We will make new friends and also meet again people, as it were yesterday, whom we knew in previous congresses, we will consider how fast time goes by and we all will feel “younger” because our expectations make that to be so. We will specially remember the VI European Congress of exlibrists held in Barcelona in 1958, what it was, its contributions, its protagonists who would already be a hundred year old, and unfortunately they are not here anymore as Jaume Pla and some others who cannot be physically present among us these days as Maria Asunción Reventós, Maria Josefa Colom, Julio Fernández Sáez and Enric Cluselles. This special year 2014 it is also the year in which our Association reaches its 25th anniversary although our existence would be older it we reckon our birth starting from the year 1901 when the first Catalan Association of Friends of Books and Ex-libris was created in Reus. Thank you for your participation, everything we have organized has been done thinking about you, hoping and wishing that all the time you spend in our county you feel as being home; may altogether be a motive of happiness, forget all the disagreeable thinks you could see, verify and feel that although we might be different, fortunately, we are able to understand and care about each other as much as we love ex-libris.

Marià Casas Hierro

LA PINEDA - VILA-SECA

ABRIL DE 2014

XXXV CONGRÉS

INTERNACIONAL

D’EXLIBRISTES DE LA FISAE

CATALUNYA, 2014

CONCURS-CONCURSO

COMPETITION

XXXV CONGRES INTERNACIONAL

D’EXLIBRISTES CATALUNYA, 2014

SANT JORDIA CATALUNYA

I A L’EXLIBRISME

XXXV CONGRÉS INTERNACIONAL

D’EXLIBRISTES CATALUNYA, 2014

LA XILOGRAFIA

I

ELS EX-LIBRIS

XXXV FISAE CONGRESS “CATALUNYA - 2014” PROGRAMME

April 22– Arrival of participants. Handing over of credentials and documentation to participants. At 19:00 Official welcome and inauguration of the Congress at Gran Palas. The Apollo-Minerva Room will be available for interchanging of ex-libris all day long. April 23– FEAST OF SAINT GEORGE, PATRON SAINT OF CATALONIA, FEAST OF THE BOOK AND THE ROSE. At 10:00. “Contemplating the letter, reading the images: Exlibrism and literature in Argentina. Analysis of examples chosen from the beginning of the XX century to the present time” by Lic. Eva Farji, in Spanish. At 10:45, in English. At 12:00 “Engraving with photopolymers” by José Salvador, in Spanish. At 15:00 Departure from the hotel to visit the exhibition Ex-libris and Exlibrists at the Port of Tarragona, platform num. 4, the exhibition about Saint George at the County Council Palace of Tarragona (1) and the exhibition about xylographic ex-libris at the Museum of Modern Art of Tarragona (10) At 20:00 At the Rambla of Tarragona, books market and folklore demonstration (sardanes “dances” and castells “human castles”) At 21.00 Return trip to the hotel from the bus station (20). The Apollo-Minerva Room will be available for the interchanging of ex-libris all day long. April 24- At 9:30. Departure from the hotel by coach to visit the Monastery of Poblet (optional) At 17:30 “Presentation of the book: Oriol Maria Diví” by Elies Plana, printer, bibliophile and engraver, in Spanish. At 18:15, in English. At 19:00 “A Survey of the Exlibrism in Argentina” by Fernando Javier Polito, teacher and graphic artist, in Spanish. At 19:45, in English. The Apollo-Minerva Room will be available for the interchanging of ex-libris all day long. April 25- At 8.00 Trip to Barcelona (optional) to visit the National Museum of Art of Catalonia (MANAC). At 12:30 Visit to Pueblo Español. At 14:00 lunch at La Font de Prades Restaurant. At 15:30 Visit to the Sagrada Familia. At 19:00 Return trip to the hotel. The Apollo-Minerva Room will be available for the interchanging of ex-libris all day long. April 26- At 9:30 “The Action and Communication of Colour in Ex-libris” by Juan Sebastián Carnero, in Spanish. At 10:15, in English. At 11:00 “Agony or the Surviving of Relief-engraving” by François Maréchal, in Spanish. At 12:30 “Ricardo Berriobeña fecit. 25 Ex-libris gathered in a volume” by Ricardo Berriobeña, burin engraver and drawer of the “Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre de España”, in Spanish. At 17:00 FISAE ASSEMBLY At 21:00 GALA DINNER (at Gran Palas). The Apollo-Minerva Room will be available for the interchanging of ex-libris all day long. April 27- At 9:00 Departure from the hotel to visit the exhibitions of Reus (optional). The Apollo-Minerva Room will be available for the interchanging of ex-libris all day long. April 28– Departure of participants. * NOTE: The lectures and the FISAE ASSEMBLY will take place at Sala Milos. * DINNING - ROOM TIMETABLE: Breakfast: 8:00 to 10:00. Lunch: 13:00 to 14:00. Dinner: 19:00 to 21:30.

COMPETITION OF EX-LBRIS OF THE XXXV F.I.S.A.E. CONGRESS, CATALUNYA-2014:

INTRODUCTION I believe that the aims of the calling of the competion on the occassion of the XXXV International Congress of Exlibrists CATALUNYA – 2014 that coincides with the 25th Anniversary of the Catalan Association of Exlibrists, have been totally fulfilled. The taking part of artists coming from Germany, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Belgium, Bielorussia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Catalonia, Croatia, China, Ecuador, Slovakia, Spain, Esthonia, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakstan, Lithuania, Macao, Mexico, Norway, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia, Serbia, Taiwan, Turkey, the USA and Ukraine are, in my opinion, a good example that all the objectives have been accomplished. The artistic quality of the works presented can be considered of excellent. The different forms of expression, the styles, the aesthetics, the diverse technique used and, to sum up, the accomplished plastic results are a real evidence of what is today the art of the ex-libris. We are deeply grateful to the Town Council of Vila-seca, the County Council of Tarragona, the Port of Tarragona and other public institutions and to different people that have collaborated in order to carry through a successful conclusion all the events of the XXXV International Congress of Exlibrists in our region, that will allow us to reach important objectives in the cultural field and that creativity could help us to be happier contemplating the beauty of ex-libris. Many thanks to all the participants, you are the protagonists of the Congress and of the competion of ex-libris, without your taking part it would not had been possible to carry them out. I hope that the veredict of the Jury seem to be fair to you and remember that the important thing is to participate, although we all think that the best is winning. The Jury would like you to perceive youselves, in a way or another, as winners because you are so. Thanks to all of you. Mariano Casas Hierro

President of the A.C.E and the F.I.S.A.E.

1 - VESELIN DAMYANOV 2 - SHIGEKI TOMURA 3 - PLAMENKO CENGIC BULGÀRIA JAPÓ CROÀCIA

THE JURY OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION OF EX-LBRIS OF THE XXXV F.I.S.A.E. CONGRESS, CATALUNYA-2014 WAS COMPOSED OF: ROSA VIVES PIQUÉ, Catedràtica de Gravat de la Facultat de Belles Arts de l'Universitat de Barcelona. FRANCESC FONTBONA DE VALLESCAR, membre numerari de l' Institut d’Estudis Catalans I de la Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi ESTEBAN ESCOLAR TURBANY, Llicenciat en Historia de l’Art, Antropologia i Sociologia LLUIS MIQUEL i PRATS, Dissenyador Gràfic MARIÀ CASAS HIERRO, President de l’A.C.E. i de la F.I.S.A.E. ONCE EXAMINED THE 1153 WORKS PRESENTED BY 365 PARTICIPANTS, THE JURY HAS UNANIMOUSLY AGREED TO AWARD THE WORKS PRESENTED BY: 1 - VESELIN DAMYANOV (Bulgària), 2 - SHIGEKI TOMURA (Japó), 3 - PLAMENKO CENGIC (Croàcia), 4 - GU XIU HUA (Xina), 5 - MARIA NOBLÉ (Alemanya), 6 - HAYK GRIGORYAN (Armènia) TO GRANT HONORABLE MENTIONS TO: LEMBIT LÖHMUS (Estònia), WU BIN (Xina), NATALIJA CERNECOVA (Letonia), YANYUN LI (Xina), MOLNÁR ISCSU ISTVÁN (Hungria), DELEKTA PAWET (Polònia), DONGSHEN ZHOU (Xina),VALERIY POKATOV (Rússia), Malou Oi Yee HUNG (Hong Kong), PAOLO ROVEGNO (Italia), KRZYSZTOF MAREK BAK (Polònia), CHRISTINE DEBOOSERE (Bèlgica).

TO SELECT THE WORKS OF: ZHOU CHUAN BIN (Xina), NIU MING (Xina), ZHAO FANGJUN (Xina), SNEZANA KEZELE (Sèrbia), PETER VELIKOV (Bulgària), ZHENG YUAN WEI (Xina), ALIONA VOLCHOK (Bielorrússia), ULYANA TURCHENKO (Ucraïna), VICENZO PIAZZA (Itàlia), VALENTINA ANOPOVA (Rússia), IVAN RUSACHEK (Bielorrússia), ZHONG YI YANG (Xina), FERNANDO POLITO (Argentina), GAO TIEYING (Xina), HAVASI TAMÁS (Hongria), VLADISLAV KVARTALNYJ (Bielorrússia), PAOLO ROVEGNO (Itàlia), EUGENIA TIMOSHENKO (Bielorrússia), GENE BALDINI (Itàlia), VLADIMIR KORTOVICH (Rússia), GRIGORY BABICH (Rússia), TAKAO SANO (Japó), VLADIMIR VERESTCHAGUINE (Rússia), CRISTINA GLADYS (Argentina), MARINA KUPKINA (Ucraïna), PIIA LEHTI (Finlàndia), ELZBIETA RADZIKOWSKA (Polònia), MICHELE STRAGLIATI (Itàlia), HONGLIANG LIU (Xina), YAN SUN (Xina), YOLANDA CARBAJALES (Espanya), MARINA TERAUDS (U.S.A.), MARTINESCU MARIUS (França), FRANCISCO D. QUINTANAR (Mèxic), ELENA HLODEC (França), IGOR BARANOV (Rússia), GUANGHUI DUAN (Xina), HSIAO-MING HOU (Taiwan), TETIANA OCHEREDKO (Ucraïna), RUSLAN AGIRBA (Ucraïna), FRANK-IVO VAN DAMME (Bèlgica), HONG QIANG XU (Xina), CHEN I CHUN (Taiwan), SILVANA MARTIGNIONI (Itàlia), LONGBAO XU (Xina), YUAN SHAO (Xina), YUKIO JAPMAEKAWAON (Japó), MAURIZIO SICCHIERO (Itàlia), SILVANA MARTIGNONI (Itàlia), WANG KAI (Xina), HAO CHEN (Xina), JAROSLAV MINÁR (República Txeca), RÉJANE VERON (França), HANI MARCO (Egipte), VENANCIO ARRIBAS (Espanya), JOANNA RÓZA MALEK (Polònia), MINGFANG HO (Xina), YOSHINARI SUEHIRO (Japó), ELENA KISELEVA (Rússia), FULVIO IOAN (Itàlia), MAYA TCHOLAKOVA (Bulgària), LEONID KURIS (Israel), DIANA SVETOZAROVA Z. (Bulgària), MICHEL ZAVALNIY (Ucraïna), OLEG YAKHNIN (Rússia), LANFRANCO LANARI (Itàlia), LING-HSIANG CHANG (Taiwan), MUNEVVER CILLOV (Turquia), ESRA KIZIR GÖKÇEN (Turquia), RONGDE JI (Xina), PAOLO GRAZIANI (Itàlia), EMILIO CARRASCO GUTIÉRREZ (Mèxic), M. MADDALENA TUCCELLI (Itàlia), BLANCA NIETO YENES (Espanya), SNEJINA BISSEROVA (Bulgària), WENJU ZHANG (Xina), PETRO MALYSHKO (Ucraïna), MARYANA MYROSHNYCHENKO (Ucraïna), FENG DONG (Xina), SHAN DAN (Xina), RYSZARD BALON (Polònia), MARCELO AGUILÁR (Argentina), LIANG WU (Xina), J. S. ANTUNEZ (Espanya), MAN ZHUANG (Japó), RICARDO BERRIOBEÑA (Espanya), VASYL FENCHAK (Ucraïna), KIRILL SKACHKOV (Ucraïna), NINA KAZIMOVA (Rússia), M. BONGIOVANNI (Itàlia), YURY MOLIBOZHENKO (Rússia), MURAT ERTÜRK (Turquia), YUKIKO HAYASHI (Japó), HRISTOVA (Eugenia CHRISTOVA) (Itàlia), GUANGHUI DUAN (Xina), XIANGHONG SHEN (Xina), AKIHISA NAKANO (Japó), BORIS ROMANOV (Ucraïna), DE LIGEER (Xina), ÜMIT DOGAN (Turquia), LEONID ZORIN (Rússia), MARTIN R. BAEYENS (Bèlgica), MARINA TERAUDS (U.S.A.), LI DENG (Xina), DAVID MOHALLATEE (U.S.A.), Mauricio SCHVARZMAN (Argentina), WANG KUN (Xina), YURIY NOZDRIN (Rússia).

Tarragona 21 de febrer de 2014

MINUTES of the Plenary Meeting of Delegates

XXXV Ex-Libris Congress Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain 26 April 2014

The President of FISAE, Mariano Casas Hierro, called the meeting to order at 17:05 hours in the Milos Room, Hotel Palas Pinera, Tarragona, Spain. At his request, the Executive Secretary of FISAE, Prof. W. E. Butler, presided. There were no apologies for absence. Delegations in attendance. Argentina (F. Polito); New Australian Bookplate Society (A. Peake); Austria (H. Scheffer); Belgium (M. Baeyens); Bulgaria (R. Baramov); China Beijing (Hua Shaoying, Yanxiang Shen); China Shanghai (Zhu Jie); Czech Republic (M. Humplik); Finland Aboensis (T. Piironen); Finland Suomen (O. Ylönen); France (C. Meyer Malinvero, Isabelle Meyer-Noirel); Germany DEG (P. Rath); Germany Pirckheimer (M. Neureiter); Hong Kong (Malou Oi Yee Hung); Italy (N. Cernecova, M. M. Tuccelli); Japan (I. Aoki, I. Uchida); Mexico (J. Keenan); Netherlands (J. van Waterschoot); Portugal (A. da Mota Miranda); Romania (M. Martinescu); Russia Moscow (L. Shustrova) Russia Vologda (S. Ptukhin, V. Vereshchagin); Spain Catalonia (M. Casas Hierro, Joan Bauçà); Switzerland (J. Burch); Turkey (H. Pektas); United States (E. Nurgal). Also in attendance: W. E. Butler (Executive Secretary of FISAE); B. Junod (Executive Coordinator of FISAE). 1. Report on XXXV (2014) Congress. Mariano Casas Hierro reported briefly that 214 persons had registered from twenty-three countries and that the Congress had proceeded very satisfactorily. 2. Report on Congress Bookplate Exhibitions. The major bookplate exhibition shown as part of the Congress was the traditional exhibition of bookplates designed since the preceding Congress in 2012. These had been juried for quality and mounted at the Port of Tarragona Museum. Some 1,153 bookplates were submitted by 365 artists from 42 countries, of which six were awarded prizes, twelve were awarded honorable mentions, and 108 were chosen for illustration and exhibition. Several substantial volumes were distributed to Congress participants: an excellent collection of amply illustrated essays to accompany an exhibition of the same title, Ex-Libris I Exlibristes (edited by Mariano Casas Hierro); Los Ex-Libris: son manifestaciones de la vanidad? (by Mariano Casas Hierro); La Xilografia I els ex-libris; and Sant Jordi a Catalunya I a l’Exlibrisme, to accompany an exhibition devoted to the same subject-matter. 3. XXXVI Congress (2016). The representative of the National Russian Exlibris Society confirmed the invitation to hold the next Congress in Vologda, Russia, from 22-27 August 2016. The President of FISAE for the period 2014-2016 is Mr. Sergei Ptukhin. Mr. Mariano Casas Hierro was elected First Vice President of FISAE, and Mr. Tauno Piironen was elected Second Vice President of FISAE. 4. XXXVII Congress of FISAE (2018). An invitation were received from the Czech Exlibris Society, SSPE. The delegates voted to accept this invitation. 5. Congresses after 2018. Expressions of interest in holding FISAE Congresses for 2020 by the The Bookplate Society (England) and by the Turkish exlibris society in Istanbul. The American Society of Bookplate Collectors & Designers has expressed interest for 2022, which would mark the 100th anniversary of that Society. 6. Membership Applications for FISAE. There were no applications.

7. FISAE Web-Site. Benoit Junod reported on the state of the website and measures to be taken to make the website more current and responsive to membership concerns. 8. FISAE Certificates and Medals. The Executive Secretary reported FISAE Certificates of Honour had been recommended for a number of individuals and institutions since the previous Congress. The Certificates had been designed and printed letterpress by Sebastian Carter of The Rampant Lions Press and the calligraphy had been contributed by Joke van der Brandt. The full list of all participants is maintained on the FISAE web-site. 9. Freedom of Movement of Exlibris. The Executive Secretary noted that FISAE is dedicated to encouraging and promoting the exchange of exlibris across national frontiers and indeed was created by exlibris collectors expressly for this purpose – an objective incorporated in the FISAE Statute. FISAE member societies assume an obligation to comply with the FISAE Statute. Membership in FISAE has little point if the country in which a FISAE society is located prohibits or interferes with the free movement and collecting of exlibris. The most prominent country known to FISAE which interferes with the purpose of FISAE is the Russian Federation. The Russian delegates (Moscow and Vologda) confirmed that the Russian Federation classified exlibris as “fine art” and applied a 50-year rule to their export from Russia and would be guided in applying the 50-year rule by the dates indicated on the front or in the reverse side of the exlibris, should any question arise. 10. Russian Student Exlibris Design Competition. The delegates heard a Report from Mrs. L. Shustrova on the student exlibris design competition held in 2013 and received a catalogue distributed to delegates. The delegates voted by acclamation to approve the 2015 competition being held under FISAE auspices, as was the first competition in 2011. The delegates requested the President of FISAE to include the 2015 exhibition among those to be shown at Vologda in 2016. 11. Concerns about Exlibris Editions and Prices. The Executive Secretary reported that two letters were being circulated to delegates before and during the Congress, one from Belgian collectors and the other from Shanghai collectors. Neither letter was formally submitted for inclusion on the formal agenda. Although these letters addressed somewhat different subjects, both expressed deep concern about some existing practices of, for example, issuing limited editions of exlibris in excess of those agreed with the client, prices for commissioning exlibris, sales of exlibris by designers and others, and the like. The Executive Secretary indicated that although FISAE did not have the competence to directly regulate these matters, progress was being made towards the submission of a Code of Good Practice and General Conditions for the commissioning of exlibris. An initial draft was expected within the coming months for circulation to national societies for discussion. The delegates voted to request the President of FISAE to reserve a two-hour period on or about 24 August 2016 for a discussion of these matters at the next Congress. The Delegates expressed their appreciation to Mariano Casas Hierro for organizing such an excellent Congress. The meeting was adjourned at 18:10 hours. Mariano Casas Hierro William E. Butler President of FISAE Executive Secretary, FISAE

A BRIEF CHRONICLE OF THE XXXV FISAE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS – CATALONIA 2014

Almost four years ago during the XXXIII International Congress of Exlibrists held in Istanbul in 2010, the Catalan Association of Exlibrists (ACE) presented the candidature of Catalonia to organize the 2014 Congress, the year in which the association reaches its 25th anniversary. Fortunately, an event of such a significance for all the Catalan Exlibrists became a reality when the 211 participants belonging to 23 countries from all over the world came together at the Hotel Palas of La Pineda of Vila-seca (Tarragona) from the 22 to the 28 of April this year. They were very intense and at the same time emotive days in which the assistants were able to visit exhibitions, museums, emblematic places of Catalonia and, what was the most important, they could encounter old and new friends and, above all, they interchanged ex-libris, the prime objective of these biannual meetings. It was a motive of satisfaction to know that the President of the Catalan autonomous government, the Most Honourable Artur Mas had accepted to preside the honour commetee of the congress together with the presidents of the Catalan Royal Academies of Fine Arts of Saint George and of the Good Letters, Sciences and Arts of Barcelona, the chairwoman of Omnium Cultural, the rector of the Rovira i Virgili University of Tarragona, as well as the mayors of Vila-seca, Tarragona and Reus. From the very beginning it was made obvious the admirable organitzation of the congress headed by the president of the Catalan Association of Exlibrists, Mariano Casas Hierro, the true artificer of this ephemeris, who during these four years has not skimped time and effords, and with a great dose of illusion and “savoir fer”, has known how to guide towards a good end one of the most significant milestones of modern Catalan exlibrism, only to be compared with the already historic VI FISAE International Congress held in Barcelona in 1958. Mariano Casas has also know how to fill with enthusiasm, not always an easy job, to a representative number of scholars in the various fields about exlibrism in general and the Catalan in particular, pioneer of modern exlibrism in the Iberian Peninsula, who have generously offered him their efficient help. 1153 works belonging to 365 artists from 45 countries were submitted to the competion held on the ocassion of the XXXV Congress. The jury unanimously agreed to grant six prizes, twelve honorific mentions; and one hundred and eighteen were selected. The whole of these ex-libris were displayed in the exhibition held at the Port of Tarragona and reproduced in small volume. The first day of the congress all the participants received the credentials and the documentation related to the programmed activities as well as four notable volumes about the magnificent exhibitions organised in three emblematic places of Tarragona, made in collaboration with well-known scholars in the diverse aspects of exlibrism: Ex-libris i Exlibristes at the Port of Tarragona, Sant Jordi a Catalunya i a l'Exlibrisme at the Palace of the County Council of Tarragona and La Xilografia i els Ex-libris at the Museum of Modern Art of Tarragona, as well as the volume in full-colour: Concurs-Concurso-Competion. XXXV Congrés International d'Exlibristes de la FISAE – Catalunya, 2014 and the book of Mariano Casas Hierro Los Ex-libris: son manifestaciones de la vanidad?.

The visit of all the participants to the above mentioned exhibitions coincided with the national feast of Saint George, dedicated to books and roses. In the evening they could admire the performance of Els castellers de Tarragona (human towers) and the folkloric dancing of Sardanes at the Rambla Nova of Tarragona. In the course of the congress there were spaces of time assigned to knowing Catalonia. A great number of assistents to the congress visited the National Museum of Art of Catalonia, the Pueblo Español and the temple of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona; the Royal Monastery of Poblet; and the Gaudí Centre and the exhibition Ex-libris in homage to Walter Benjamin at the Museum of Modern Art in Reus. All together, if we add the visit to the city of Tarragona and the stay in La Pineda of Vila-seca, a representative token of the territorial and cultural heritage of the country. One of the novelties of the congress was the incorporation of communications, lectures and workshops about the theory and practice of ex-libris, while a frantic activity of interchanging was going on in the spacious Apollo-Minerva Room at the Hotel Palas. On the 26 afternoon took place the plenary meeting of the FISAE delegates with the attendance of twenty-six delegations. Among other businesses, it was officially confirmed that the XXXVI International Congress will be held in Vologda (Russia) from the 22 to the 27 of August, 2016. The opening ceremony as well as the Gala Dinner was celebrated at the Gran Palas Hotel of La Pineda, presided by Josep Poblet Tous, mayor of Vila-seca and president of the County Council of Tarragona. With his enthusiasm and the support of his institutions, the making of the congress has been easier than could have been expected. Thanks to his management the municipality of Vila-seca in the seat of the nowadays Catalan Association of Exlibrists (ACE). Catalan exlibrism has known once again how to organise with a high degree of satisfaction a FISAE International Congress hoping, without any doubt, that new generations of exlibrists will come out in order to celebrate a new one along this century.

Joan Bauçà i Barceló

THE XXXV FISAE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF EXLIBRISTS CATALUNYA 2014

When last October Marià Casas suggested to me to work for him and to collaborate in the organization of the FISAE International Congress of Exlibrists, I hardly knew anything about ex-libris. Even so, I accepted the proposal and, little by little, I have introduced myself into this fascinating and unknown world. Since that day and until the opening of the Congress, the 22 of April, I witnessed the work that implies to organize an event of such a magnitude: to receive and settle down the works of the Congress (1153 works belonging to 365 competitors); to get ready the different exhibitions that would be displayed parallely to the Congress (Ex-libris and Exlibrists at the Port of Tarragona, Saint George in Catalonia and in Exlibrism at the Palace of the County Council of Tarragona and Ex-libris and xilography at the Museum of Modern Art of Tarragona); to organize the articles and communications that would constitue the volumes related to each exhibition; ... So that, during the six days of the Congress, everybody could quietly enjoy all about ex-libris, its interchanging and the other programmed activities. During the first weeks of April took place the inauguration of the exhibitions with a good reception from the general public of the city; the details were concluded and, finally, the starting day of the Congress arrived: 211 assistants coming from 23 diferent countries came together at the Palas Hotel of La Pineda of Vila-seca from the 22 to the 28 of April. On the first day the enrolled participants received the credentials and documentation that had been prepared the previous months: the programme of the activities of the Congress, the above mentioned publications and the small volume where the 108 selected works as well as the 6 awarded prizes and the 12 honorific mentions were reproduced. During the opening ceremony of the Congress the diplomas to the present awarded participants were handed over and named those who were absent due to diverse causes. Since the first moment the activity in the set up room for the interchanging was frantic: old and known friends met again, new friends were made and, obviously, plenty of ex-libris were interchanged, given or bought. At the same time artists and theoreticians of engraving and of ex-libris presented their communications in different languages in order to share with other participants their techniques, ideas and work, making the Congress a place for interchanging but also for sharing ideas, thoughts and knowledge.

On April 23th, coinciding with the day of Saint George, the patron of Catalonia, we visited the different exhibitions and also walked around the higher part of Tarragona and the Rambla Nova, where the participants could observe the atmosphere of the book and rose market celabrated on the ocassion of this feast and so to share our tradition of giving a rose or buying a book to the loved ones; they also could admire the performances of the “human towers” of “els Castellers de Tarragona” as well as the dancing of “sardanes”. During this week, a good number of participants also visited the Royal Monastery of Poblet; the National Museum of Art of Catalonia, the Poble Espanyol and la Sagrada Família in Barcelona and the Gaudí Centre and the Museum of Reus; a small sample that allowed them to get a significant idea about our country's art, culture and people. The days passed almost without noticing it, and so the last evening and the Gala dinner arrived. Ready to have a good time, the participants smartly dressed headed towards the Great Palas to enjoy a superb dinner and to make the most out of the last moments accompanied by the new friends. All dinner long there were toasts and dedications; the closing speeches were pronounced and we danced until very late. The next day the majority of participants went home and only a few remained until the last minute in order to make new interchangings and stay with the new friends. After so many days of preparation, all of a sudden, the Congress had already ended. There have been some setbacks as it normally happens in things of such a magnitude, but I believe that, in general, the Congress has been a success. With regard to myself, I retain all the new things I have learnt, specially, about the art of the ex-libris and also the marvellous people I have met. The ex-libris world is a beautiful world and the congresses a fantastic place to know people and works of art where joy and friendship prevails. I am glad of having been a part of all together.

Núria Sancho Subirats