Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has declined to continue as patron of the International Board of Literature for Children and Young Adults (IBBY) Hans Christian Andersen Prize, in response to the fact that, despite protests from many member organisations, the representative of Russia is still the chairman of the prize jury.
The Danish IBBY council has announced that Margrethe II has relinquished her honor as patroness of the award.
The award was also removed from the list of the Queen’s foreign patronages on the Royal House website.
In September, when Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine had been going on for six months, Russian illustrator and art professor Anastasia Arkhipova was elected chair of the award jury at the IBBY congress in Malaysia.
His election caused a rift in the organization.
Among the countries that have tried to get Arkhipova out of office are Ukraine, Moldova, Belgium, the Baltic states and the Nordic countries.
Responding to criticism, the organisation’s board explained that its members do not represent governments, but only themselves, such as artists, writers and publishers.
On the other hand, member organizations that do not want Arkhipova to be the chairman of the jury remind that she is not only an illustrator, but also sits on the board of the Moscow Union of Artists and that this organization is actively engaged in war propaganda .
This organization’s competition recently ended, in which Russian artists could submit posters, videos and social media memes to be used in a campaign to promote war and mobilisation.
The submitted works should, among other things, promote the “reunification of the historical Russian lands”.
