CGD

It has become a tradition that presenting the annual competition The Most Beautiful Book of the Year is the responsibility of its winner in the category Catalogues. Most recently, these designers tend to not only work on the visual form of the catalogue, but also participate in other competition outcomes, including the contents. The authors Kateřina Šedá and Adam Macháček approached last year's presentation in an utterly innovative manner. Departing from a simple concept – that beauty is a relative, subjective category, and everyone has a chance of choosing his or her most beautiful book – they accompanied the technical and expert jury with one of laymen, the so-called Most Beautiful Jury. The final ceremony, where 99 books were given awards, received a new, specific form as well. The catalogue to the "51+" competition includes, apart from the official statements, coverage by Aleš Palán, capturing the backstage moments of the three juries, and photographs by Martin Hlavica. The exhibition for the first time presented all books – not only those awarded, but all those registered. The final treat prepared by the authors was their mystification in the form of the book A Nuclear Bomb and How to Make It in Amateur Conditions, which the jury acknowledged with 3rd prize in the category Textbooks. The publication, made to order and with a design tailored to contemporary trends, contains an anonymous text copied from the internet with the aim of bringing a most perverse subject to the discussion about contents and form. The 51st year opened several issues and, through a simple idea, pointed out the pitfalls of judging "beauty". The authors undermined the competition as an elite institution, holding a mirror up to expertise and officialdom. And equally as in the case of the nominated Laboratoř studio, here, too, it is important to appreciate the controversies which are essential for any innovations in the field. Last but not least, it is also necessary to recognize The Museum of Czech Literature for its support of the designers' ambitious interventions.

Kateřina Přidalová