View Gallery

The Children's Book Illustrators' Gallery (BIG) at the Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC), aims to showcase the work of artists from around the region.

Organised by the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) and The Arts House, AFCC has been running for two years and looks set to being a prominent fixture on the international children's literature calendar.

In this Gallery Feature you will find some of the artwork displayed in this year's BIG. And to answer some questions about BIG, we welcome Jade Yong, Marketing Communications Manager at the NBDCS. One of the organizers of AFCC, Jade worked closely with BIG Gallery curators Susanna Goho-Quek and Kenneth Quek.

....................................................................................

Q & A:

How did the Book Illustrator's Gallery come into being?

The Book Illustrator's Gallery (BIG) was first organised as part of the Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) 2010, to showcase the work of illustrators from around the region. BIG at the AFCC aims to help publicise the great business potential in creating and distributing Asian content throughout Asia and the rest of the world.

Can you tell us about your own role in the BIG?

Several of us were involved in the smooth running of the BIG. During the submission period, my colleague Haryani Othman checked to see if all the entries were valid, and communicated with the illustrators. Kenneth then collated all the entries, and Susanna, our curator, made the selections. A couple of days before the conference began, Kenneth and Susanna mounted and framed the artwork, and arranged for the frames to be hung in the gallery, with assistance from technicians at the venue.

What response have you had, both in terms of entries, and as regards the BIG's profile within AFCC?

The first year we had entries from more than 50 illustrators across Asia, each submitting between 2 to 5 pieces of artwork. After selection, the BIG featured 60 pieces of artwork. This year due to space constraints at the venue, we had to limit the entries to only illustrators or artists who were attending the conference, which inevitably meant that all of the accepted entries were from Singaporeans. There was lots of interest from other illustrators across Asia to have their work exhibited in the BIG, but unfortunately we had to turn them away.

Please tell us about this year's featured entries.

The illustrations featured in this year's BIG were all done in different media; digital, acrylic on paper, watercolour, pen, marker, pastel... it was great to see the variety of technique.

What vision does the AFCC have for the BIG going forward?

The organisers hope to garner support for an award for children's illustrations, to be introduced at the Asian Festival of Children's Content in the next few years.

Posted July 2011

about us | newsletter & privacy policy | downloads | site map | search | testimonials | disclaimer

home | outreach | blog
©2001-2011 Pacific Rim Voices