With the support of the Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris, six Taiwanese comic artists showcased their works at Lausanne Comic Strip Festival (Festival de bande dessinée Lausanne, BDFIL) held from May 1 to 14 in Switzerland.
For the first time since its inception in 2005, the BDFIL hosted the "guest country (pays invité)" event, with Taiwan being the inaugural country to receive this prestigious recognition. This first large-scale Taiwanese comic exhibition in Switzerland sparked a series of discussions on how comics can transcend political and cultural boundaries, showcasing the historical context and unique features of Taiwan through the works of artists.
During the festival, artists Sean Chuang (莊永新), Lin Li-chin (林莉菁), Zhou Jien-xin (周見信), Zuo Hsuan (左萱), Li Lung-chieh (李隆杰), and Ding Pao-yen (丁柏晏) participated in three days of book signing activities and two roundtable seminars. In addition, three animated short films were screened, including "Night Bus (夜車)" by director Joe Hsieh (謝文明), "Girl in Water (水中的女孩)" by Huang Shi-rou (黃詩柔), and “The Egret River (鷺鷥河)” by Liu Wan-ling (劉琬琳).
The Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris expressed its gratitude for the assistance provided by the Taiwan Comic Base, Gaea Books Co., Taiwan Cultural Center in Tokyo, and Acer Inc. Thanks to their support, visitors were offered free access to read e-comics from the Taiwan Creative Content Agency's CCC Creative Collection (CCC創作集). This allowed them to immerse themselves in the captivating works created by Taiwanese artists, which ingeniously blend local culture, history, and humanistic elements.
Established in 2005, BDFIL is the largest comics festival in French-speaking Switzerland, and after the Angoulême International Comics Festival in France, the second-largest of its kind in Francophone Europe.