Like the monkeys in the jungle, jumping from branch to branch, the La Guarimba monkey moves from hand to hand, travelling across borders, styles and languages. Interpreted by illustrators from all over the world, it learns new voices along the way and returns every August to its home in Southern Italy.
Artists For La Guarimba is an annual illustration exhibition, both digital and physical, founded by Sara Fratini and currently curated by Giulio Vita for the La Guarimba International Film Festival. Each invited artist is asked to reinterpret the festival’s monkey and its slogan, bringing the cinema back to the people and the people back to the cinema, translating it into their own visual language and cultural context.
Over the years, the exhibition has brought together established names in contemporary illustration, emerging artists at the beginning of their journey, and artists who took part early on and later became internationally recognised. Through this evolving constellation of voices, the show has reflected on the present, addressing social, political and cultural issues while remaining rooted in play, experimentation and freedom of expression.
Several works created for Artists For La Guarimba have been selected and featured in the catalogues of The Society of Illustrators and American Illustration, highlighting the project’s growing relevance within the international illustration landscape.
Artists For La Guarimba exists as a shared space where illustration becomes a tool for dialogue, circulation and collective imagination, extending beyond the festival days and continuing to live online throughout the year.
