Artworks by Taiwanese comic artists were shown at the 50th Angoulême International Comics Festival, which was held in France from Jan. 25 to 29.
Revolving around the theme "Stories Ahead: Taiwan Comics Now," Taiwan Pavilion is divided into two sections－"Manga City," a display area for hundreds of comic books and videos, and an international copyright center.
This year, French editions of several Taiwan's comic books hit the shelves at the festival, including "Son of Formosa (來自清水的孩子)" by Yu Pei-yun (游珮芸) and Zhou Jien-xin (周見信), "Koxinga Z (1661國姓來襲)" by Li Lung-chieh (李隆杰), "Crouching Lion in a Bookstore (獅子藏匿的書屋)" by Xiaodao (小島), and "The Funeral Concerto (送葬協奏曲)" by Rimui (韋蘺若明).
Taiwanese creators have attracted global attentions. For example, Morning Anxiety (日安焦慮) was officially selected as one the world's top 10 emerging artists at the festival, and his work "Road to Nowhere (世界邊緣之旅)," which was translated into French and published by the publishing house Misma, was on display at the Young Talents Pavilion during the festival. In addition, Taiwanese cartoonists Eli Lin (依萊), Niu (牛), Seal (海豹) and Meow5 (喵5) were also selected among the top 10 in the digital competition.
In an interview with the Central News Agency, Taiwan's representative to France Wu Chih-chung (吳志中) stated that Taiwan's comic books were influenced by Japan in the early days, but today they have their own strong points. He added that in the past five years, more and more people visited the Taiwan Pavilion at the festival, and the interest in Taiwan has also been growing.
As head of Chatto Chatto, one of the earliest publishing houses that introduced Taiwanese comics to France, Nicholas Galiano said French readers were drawn to Taiwan’s comic books thanks to their unique charm and every artist's distinctive character, which keeps the balance between convention and innovation.
The Angoulême International Comics Festival is the second largest comics festival in Europe and has occurred every year since 1974. Taiwan has participated in the festival for over a decade.
(Photo courtesy of Taiwan Creative Content Agency)