The Xunta de Galicia is set to honour renowned artist Mª Fe Quesada during the upcoming Illustration Day, celebrated on 30 January 2027. The event is organised in collaboration with the Galician Association of Illustration Professionals, which has chosen Quesada for this year's tribute due to her extensive contributions to children's and youth literature in Galicia.
In preparation for the celebrations, the Ministry of Culture, Language and Youth is developing various activities, including workshops and exhibitions inspired by Quesada's work. Notably, she gained recognition early in her life, winning the first National Prize for Children's Painting at just four years old in Zamora, where she was born in 1957. Despite her birthplace, her roots are firmly planted in Galicia, as her father was the well-known painter Antonio Quesada.
Mª Fe Quesada grew up in an artistic family, surrounded by easels, oils, and brushes. At the age of nine, her family moved to Vigo, where she published her first illustrations at 14 for the cultural section of the newspaper Faro de Vigo, marking the beginning of her professional journey in drawing and painting. Her experience working in paediatric nursing has also influenced her focus on creating art for children.
Quesada is known for her traditional techniques in watercolour, tempera, and acrylic painting, which imbue her compositions with warmth, colour, movement, and delicate details. Her portfolio includes posters, illustrations for textbooks, and stories that have resonated with young readers in Galicia, particularly those who grew up in the 1980s and early 1990s. Notable works include Cuentos de Maricastaña, El secreto de la Piedra Figueira, El Abuelo de Pipa, El día que llovió de noche, El gaitero y el ratón, and the Galician editions of classics like Pinocho and Polgariño.
Her artistic excellence has been recognised internationally, having been selected for the International Biennial of Illustration in Bratislava in 1992, 1994, and 1996. Additionally, her work Quien me quiere adoptar?, written by Fina Casalderrey, was included in the prestigious international catalogue The White Ravens.
Quesada has also contributed to various initiatives promoting reading, including the Xunta de Galicia's campaigns in 2000 and the Day of Galician Letters in 2006, dedicated to Manuel Lugrís Freire.
Illustration Day was established to acknowledge the vital role of graphic professionals in the cultural industry, with an annual tribute to a Galician illustrator. Created in 2014, the date was chosen to coincide with the birth of Alfonso Rodríguez Castelao and is part of the Book and Reading Calendar promoted by the Ministry of Culture, Language and Youth. Previous honourees include notable figures such as Lolita Díaz Baliño, Federico Ribas, Chichi Campos, Reimundo Patiño, Xosé Lozano, and Siro.
