Sàrmede is a very special place, where dreams can become reality, where you can play and have fun, where you can always find new paths to discover.

It all started with the innovative ideas of Štěpán Zavřel, a famous illustrator, from Prague, who later moved to Rugolo di Sàrmede.  In 1983, he created the International Exhibition on the world of illustration and childhood.

The project has developed over the years, thanks to the will of the whole community, achieving notoriety all over the world. Sàrmede is now recognized as the country of the fairy tale.

The exhibition entitled “Images of fantasy”, now in its thirty-sixth edition, involves children, young people and adults, making them live extraordinary emotions and experiences, linked to the languages ​​of illustration. Every year the exhibition presents its visitors over 300 works from all over the world, in order to offer a magic journey through the fantastic world of each country.

In addition, Štěpán Zavřel, in the late 1980s, has started the tradition of painting murals, using the fresco technique in the beginning, and then doing retouching and detail work with dry interventions. The Foundation has continued this tradition over the years, thanks to the collaboration with the Municipality of Sàrmede and private individuals.

Today there are about 50 frescoes and paintings by illustrators, artists and students of the International School of Illustration of Sàrmede.

In 1987 the organization of the exhibition passed to the Exhibition Committee, which, at the end of 1999 turned into the International Children’s Illustration Exhibition Foundation Štěpán Zavřel, to commemorate the artist and co-founder.

The Štěpán Zavřel Foundation organizes guided tours of the frescoes for adults and children.

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