Creative project "ė" at Leipzig book fair

Lithuania was a guest of honour at the Leipzig Book Fair on 23-26 March, 2017, presenting two stands – the national stand and the stand dedicated to creativity.
The joint lecturer-student team of the Graphic Art Department of Vilnius Academy of Arts introduced the unique to the Lithuanian language letter „ė”. This letter is not only significant in terms of choosing a suitable font for the written Lithuanian language but also as a feminine symbol being the last letter of many women’s surnames and some names.
The creators of the stand invited visitors to participate in creative activities and to experience the uniqueness of the „ė“ letter/sign. Visitors could do it in a number of different ways: by validating an ė-ticket, reading the „ė“ texts with their eyes covered by the ė-points (filters), by recognizing and understanding the absence of the dot on the letter „ė“ in the Lithuanian language which may change the meaning of the word, sentence or even content; and by watching the ė-videos portraying the features of the letter „ė“: the dot, the sound, the meaning and the relevance. The visitors of the fair took part in the ė-lottery where they could win various ė-prizes, such as ė-cards, ė-books, ė-sweets etc.

Each activity revealed a new type of knowledge, emphasized the unique significance of the sign and showed how a letter/sound/typography element may be firmly established in many fields of life.
Apart from the activities, the guests were introduced to the publications, illustrated books and fan zines created and accumulated by the Graphic Art Department students, with the support by JSC Libra Vitalis, JSC Heliopolis and VAA Publishing and Printing house.
Leipzig Internation book fair is the second biggest book fair in Europe, hosting 200000 visitors each year.

 

​Project organizer: Graphic Art Department of Vilnius Academy of Arts
Project curators: Elena Grudzinskaitė and Agnė Dautartaitė-Krutulė
Project participants: Joelis Aškinis, Kamilė Krasauskaitė, Tomas Karolis Kucharskis, Laima Matuzonytė, Lauksminė Steponavičiūtė, Monika Šiliūnaitė, Gabrielė Vingraitė
Project has been created in cooperation with the Lithuanian Culture Institute
Project sponsors: UAB Libra Vitalis and UAB Heliopolis
Partners: Vilnius Academy of Arts Publishing house and Printing house