The Foundation’s three souls: the Exhibition, the School, and the Museum
The heritage of artistic and educational knowledge becomes a tangible experience in the annual International Illustration Exhibition ‘Le Immagini della Fantasia’, founded in 1983, and in the International School of Illustration, founded in 1988. The Exhibition has been visited by over two million people and has, from the outset, been characterized by a traveling spirit, reaching significant cultural institutions such as the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Kindermuseum in Frankfurt, the United Nations Palace in Geneva, and the Museum of Modern Art in Shaanxi, China.
The School is active throughout the year, offering a specialized educational program both in person and remotely, designed for those working in the arts, from illustration to writing, and in education. Additionally, the accreditation of the Štěpán Zavřel Foundation by the Ministry of Education and Merit allows some courses to be included in the S.O.F.I.A. platform, enabling the use of the teacher’s card.
Alongside the Casa della Fantasia, the Municipality of Sarmede houses the Štěpán Zavřel Museum, whose exhibition path offers an opportunity to reflect on the legacy left by the Maestro through the display of sixty original works.
Furthermore, starting in 2024, the Foundation presents the permanent exhibition Il Sole Ritrovato. Illustration of the Second Half of the 20th Century in Sarmede, which tells a significant chapter of the history of children’s illustration through seventy original works from the Foundation’s collection.
Animated illustration: Gerda Dendooven, Lire-sur-l’herbe, serigraphy