On April 8, the Latvian Association of Book Publishers announced the results of the book art competition “Golden Apple Tree 2020” in 7 categories. This year, the title of “Artist of the Year” was awarded to designer Armands Zelčs, a special prize to Ilze Trumpe’s graphic novel “You Will Like She”, while the first book of cooks won the readers’ vote. 414 ancient recipes from the 18th century ”.
Winners of “Golden Apple Tree 2020”
Artist of the Year
The title of “Artist of the Year” was won by Armands Zelčs, who has worked on the books nominated for “Golden Apple Tree” – “Maps” (Raimonds Ķirķis), “Meitene” (Lote Vilma Vītiņa), “Strops” (Ivars Šteinbergs) and Andris Breže. “(Santa Hirsch).
“A representative of contemporary art can express himself in various media, and book art could be one of them. At first it was not an activity that I thought I should do, but over time, as circumstances change, I am glad that it has happened, ”admitted Armands Zelčs.
Armands Zelčs receives the “Artist of the Year” award6min
—
poetry
Raimonds Ķirķis. “Maps”. Design – Armands Zelčs
Photo: “Golden Apple Tree”
–
–
In the category “Poetry” the main prize was won by Raimonds Ķirķis debut collection “Maps”Author of the design Armands Zelčs, the book was printed in Jelgava printing house; publisher – “Neputns”.
“My goal is to leave enough free space for wanderings, I would even say – for wandering minds. [..] “In the maps, emptiness is the thing that is needed,” emphasized designer Armands Zelčs.
In the category “Poetry” the prize is awarded to “Maps”3min
—
Prose
Compiled by Henrik Elias Zegner. “The Book of Love”. Artist – Alexei Murashko
Photo: “Golden Apple Tree”
–
–
The “Book of Love” compiled by Henrik Elias Zegner was recognized as the best in the “Prose” category, its design was created by Aleksejs Muraško, the cover design illustration – Didzis Upens; Jelgava printing house; published by Ascendum.
“Love books and love literature are seemingly banal. And when we created the book, we wanted to ask this cliché: why is it banal, or can it not be banal? And I think it has succeeded in content and it has succeeded in form, ”said Henrik Elias Sergner, the compiler of The Love Book.
In the category “Prose” the prize is awarded to the “Book of Love”4min
—
Documentary editions
The team of authors. “Stories in Sounds: 100 years of the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music”. Design – Maija Rozenfelde; photo – Artūrs Kondrāts
Photo: “Golden Apple Tree”
–
–
A book created by a team of authors recognized as the most beautiful in the category of documentary editions “Stories in Sounds: 100 years of the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music”. Book design – Maija Rozenfelde; Jelgava printing house; publisher – Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music.
“This is how I see Latvian culture in the future. Visual art and audio art work closely together and find new ways together, where together we can do much, much more than each of us in our field, ”said JVLMA Rector Guntars Prānis.
In the category “Documentary Editions” the prize is awarded to “Stories in Sounds: 100 years of the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music”5min
—
Scientific literature
Deniss Hanovs, Valdis Tēraudkalns. “The Bloody Dawn in Paris: The Revolution of 1789 as a Media Event.” Artist – Daniel Vyatkin
Photo: “Golden Apple Tree”
–
–
In the category “Scientific Literature”, the main prize was won by the book “Denisa Hanov and Valdis Tēraudkalns” published by “Zinātne”The Bloody Dawn in Paris: The Revolution of 1789 as a Media Event”. The design of the book was created by Daniils Vyatkins, it is printed in Jelgava printing house.
“When we wrote this book, it was immediately clear that it could not be like any other book. It must have some peculiarity. We looked at many different options, from the simplest to the most elitist. But it all didn’t work. Until we realized that we just needed to cut off the bottom slightly. The book immediately becomes like a guillotine knife, ”said designer Daniil Vyatkin.
In the category “Scientific Literature” the award is given to “Bloody Dawn in Paris: The Revolution of 1789 as a Media Event”4min
—
Reference literature
Ieva Smiļģe. “Italy with me”. Artist – Baiba Linga-Bērziņa, illustrations – Zane Homka
Photo: “Golden Apple Tree”
–
–
In the category “Reference literature” Ieva Smiļģe’s book “Italy with me”, whose artist is Baiba Linga-Bērziņa, publisher “L`Italii”, has won the book, the book was made in Jelgava printing house.
“I enjoyed having fun with this material. I was not afraid to connect a lot of unconnected things with different fonts, with Italian expression. I tried to feel such an Italian mood, ”said artist Baiba Linga-Bērziņa.
In the category “Reference literature” the award is received by “Italy with me”3min
—
Art publications
Šelda Puķīte, Indreks Grigors. “Silver Girls. A Retouched History of Photography.” Artist – Alexei Murashko
Photo: “Golden Apple Tree”
–
–
The book by Šelda Puķīte and Indrek Grigora has been recognized as the best art publication “Silver girls. Retouched history of photography”. The author of the book’s design is Alexei Murashko; printing houses – “Weiters” and Jelgava printing house; published by Blind Carbon Copy.
“Each of the participants has their own visual language. Thus, the book has not become simply a catalog where all the pictures are the same size and the approach is so academic. Here is a game with layout, size, scale, impression, ”said designer Alexei Murashko.
In the category “Art Editions”, the prize is awarded to “Silver Girls. Retouched History of Photography ”4min
—
Books for children and young people
Liene Bērziņa. “Helmet”. Design – Ivs Zenne, illustrations – Kitty Role
Photo: “Golden Apple Tree”
–
–
In the category “Books for children and youth”, the main prize went to Liene Bērziņa’s book “Ķiverēns”. Design – Ivs Zenne, illustrations – Kitty Role; Jelgava printing house; published by BE THE BEAR.
“It is a book not only for children, but, in our opinion, also for adults. Its sparkle has resulted in this beautiful award, ”emphasized artist Kitty Role.
“Helmet” receives the award in the category “Books for children and youth”3min
—
Special prize
Ilze Trumpe. “You’ll like her.” Design – Linda Lūse, illustrations – Ilze Trumpe
Photo: “Golden Apple Tree”
–
–
This year, the jury also decided to award a special prize to Ilze Trumpe’s graphic novel “You will like her”. Design – Linda Lūse, illustrations – Ilze Trumpe; typography – Dardedze Holography; publisher – “Attic”.
“It simply came to our notice then. True. Emotional. Open. Personal. Simple. But a very human world is revealed in the book. This is the feeling we wanted to give to our reader, ”said Arvis Ostrovskis, a representative of the Mansards publishing house.
Special prize “You will like her”3min
—
Readers’ vote
“Its first cookbook. 414 ancient recipes from the 18th century.” Artist – Inese Hofmane, photo Pauls Daija, Uģis Niedre
Photo: “Golden Apple Tree”
–
–
The first published cookbook in Latvian received the most support in the readers’ vote “It’s the first cookbook. 414 ancient recipes from the 18th century ”. Artist – Inese Hofmane, photo Pauls Daija, Uģis Niedre. Printing house – Jelgava printing house; publisher – Kocēni County Council. The work was nominated in the category “Reference literature”.
Moments from the “Golden Apple 2020” award ceremony were recorded by film director Jānis Ābele, and on April 8, from 12.00, they can also be seen on the pages of LSM, “100g kultuur” and the Latvian Book Publishers’ Association “Facebook”.
This year, 69 publishers submitted 141 books and a jury in 7 categories to the competition nominated a total of 35 works. The nominated works can be seen in the exhibition windows of the gallery “Istaba” until April 12. The lifetime achievement award this year awarded to Inta Kalniņa, who has been working as a book editor for more than 45 years.
The competition is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, “Jelgava Typography”, “Arctic Paper Baltic States”. Cooperation partners Latvian National Museum of Art, Latvian Academy of Arts.
–
