The Tabook Festival has established itself as a unique event in recent years. It brings together small, high-quality publishers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and abroad whose books shape contemporary culture, as well as authors: novelists, poets, and translators; editors, graphic designers, and illustrators; as well as people who work with books: librarians, teachers, students, and indeed everyone who rightly attributes fundamental importance to books in the history of culture. This gathering, which gave rise to the festival, is now just one of many components of a multifaceted crossover book event. 

Another important component of Tabook is an international program focused on illustration and contemporary Czech and international picture books. The professional program brings together small international publishers, book industry professionals, and the most interesting figures in book illustration, as well as art students from the Czech Republic and abroad. This year, students of Georg Barber—also known as Atak—from the Academy of Fine Arts in Halle will be visiting and exhibiting their work and books at Trafačka u Jordánu. Indian writer and publisher Bijal Vachharajani will speak about publishing books for children who cannot afford to own a book, as well as about working in the Indian book market. The Ukrainian publishing house Stari Lev will bring the illustrator duo Agrafka, Andriy Lesiv, and Romana Romanyshyn to Tábor; their books are published worldwide. 

The program includes guided tours of exhibitions, meetings, and lectures focused on illustration, the book as a whole, comics, graphic design, and contemporary art related to book creation. Numerous exhibitions by Czech and international artists will take place: at Truhlárna, Tereza Říčanová will exhibit her paintings on glass as part of the festival’s theme; in the water tower, illustrator Klára Zahrádková will exhibit her work; and the Museum of Linocut and Woodcut will also be established at Truhlárna, featuring works by more than thirty artists from across Europe. 

Tabook also includes a multi-day symposium that brings together international and Czech illustration and type design students with  experienced professionals in the field while working in a screen-printing workshop: this year, the workshop will be led by Spanish artist and illustrator Joan Negrescolor.  

Another integral and essential part of Tabook is a carefully curated two-day program for children and youth. It primarily features art and illustration workshops, but also includes journalism, music, and theater workshops, reading lessons, meetings with authors, walks, games around Tábor, and much more. 

The main theme of the 13th edition of the festival is Modesty. Modesty as the antithesis of consumerism, excess, and waste—as a way of life and as a choice that often seems too demanding. Modesty in literature and art as the ability not to say too much, to choose one’s words carefully; modesty as a human trait and as a path that usually goes unnoticed. The boundary between voluntary and involuntary modesty, and everything related to it in artistic, philosophical, and political terms. The program is a colorful mix of diverse events: from philosophical debates, discussions, and author readings to city walks, performances, and, of course, theater productions and concerts. The program will include, for example, Pavel Klusák’s solitary listening rooms, silent readings in gardens, and, of course, the much-loved encounters with the most humble of artists: translators. In connection with the theme, you’ll encounter the names of both living and deceased authors, such as the prose writer Marek Šindelka, the translator Jiří Pelán, the poet Bernadetta Babáková, prose writer Alena Machoninová, poet and prose writer Petr Borkovec, translator Michaela Jacobsenová, poet Christina Lavante, poet Josef Hrdlička, filmmaker Hana Nováková, theater artist and poet Tomáš Procházka, theater artist Robert Smolík, and many others.