Tereza Říčanová comes from Prague but has been living on a farm in Mezní in the Vysočina region for more than twenty years. She studied illustration and graphic design at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, in the studio of Jiří Šalamoun. Her work covers a wide range of artistic areas, one of which is the creation of children’s books, which she both writes and illustrates. Of the many for which she has won the Most Beautiful Czech Book and Golden Ribbon awards, she’s already presented two in Cheb — Obrazy světa [World Pictures] (2016) and Noemova archa [Noah’s Ark] (2010). Říčanová now returns to GAVU with illustrations for her newest book Les [Forest] (2023). The forest is an ancient, complex organism with its own rules, its own inaccessible places, its own breath. Everything in it is connected to everything else; one cannot live without the other. It’s a mysterious world that breathes its own rhythm somewhere deep inside, living its own life. Today people mainly plunder forests and often cannot prevent various calamities and disasters. Taking good care of the forest so that it can face unforeseen dangers means really getting to know it, listening to it; its silence, its shadows, its ancient songs of water, of wind, its roots and growth. This involves watching and observing, as well as working patiently. Just like little Zbyšek does in Říčanová’s captivating story...