Asian Festival of Children’s Content 2012: A Luscious Feast

A week ago, the Asian Festival of Children’s Content was officially launched in Manila (see Tarie’s blog post in Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind about the Press Conference here). Yesterday, we had a similar press conference here in Singapore at The Arts House at the Old Parliament. It brings me such great pleasure to share a few photos and some of the new things that we have in store for you, as presented by Mr. Rama Ramachandran, the indefatigable Festival Director.

This is me waiting for the other guests to arrive. 🙂 Photo taken by my husband.

The Panel (L-R): Mr. Rama Ramachandran, Festival Director; Ms. Claire Chiang, Chairman of the AFCC; a Representative from Singtel, and and the ever-charming Mr. Colin Goh, General Manager of The Arts House.

Ms. Claire Chiang, with the classic timeless beauty giving the Welcome Address.

The ageless Mr. Rama excitedly sharing to everyone the 'bold and brighter' things in store for AFCC this year.

Mr. Colin Goh sharing some of this thoughts about the AFCC and how it continues to grow each year.

I share a little bit about the Filipino storytellers and illustrators who are coming to join us for the Festival.

As I continue to share the great things in store for all conference attendees this year.

The Singtel Asian Picture Book Award would be launched during the AFCC - to be presented annually starting 2013. Click on the photo - taken by my husband Roel Bacsal - to know more about the Award.

Regional Focus: The Philippines

As I have posted a week ago, AFCC is doing a regional focus on the Philippines. It is our hope that this will become an annual tradition – the Festival hopes to become a venue to showcase the artistry and craftsmanship of storytellers and illustrators in the region. This year, we are proud to welcome four outstanding storytellers and illustrators from the Philippines.

Filipino artists Russell Molina and Jomike Tejido will be part of the panel Trajectories and Themes in Children’s Literature from the Philippines alongside award-winning author Candy Gourlay now based in London and Isabel Roxas who currently lives in New York.

Russell Molina - Click on the image to be taken to the websource.

Jomike Tejido - Click on the image to be taken to the websource.

Candy Gourlay - click on the image to be taken to the websource.

Isabel Roxas. Click on the image to be taken to the websource.

Russell and Jomike will discuss some of the trends in the local industry as well as share about their desire to reach out to Filipino children in diaspora. Candy Gourlay and Isabel Roxas would highlight international perspectives and would share some of their personal narratives and experiences as Filipinos who are currently based overseas and how they write and create stories and artwork from within a Filipino/Southeast Asian perspective.

Filipino Music: Noel Cabangon in Singapore

Noel Cabangon. Photo taken by my husband, Roel Bacsal, during Noel's performance at The Arts House, Singapore, January 2012.

What is a Festival without music? We are excited that highly-acclaimed and respected Filipino singer-songwriter, Mr. Noel Cabangon, a very dear friend of mine, would be coming over to serenade the participants of the conference with beautiful Filipino music.

Panel of Young Voices

This is also one of the events that I am looking forward to during the Festival. We thought that it would be wonderful to give space and voice to young adults/ adolescents and hear directly from them which books appeal to them and inspire them to create their own stories. With the help of Janus Education, special mention to Catherine Khoo who would be facilitating this panel discussion (and thanks to Carlo Venson for arranging everything), we shall have a chance to listen to the voices of the youth. This festival, is after all, for them: relevant, interesting and fascinating content for children and young people living in Asia.

On Writing Book Reviews: Print and Online Media

There would also be a panel on “The Art & Science of Writing Book Reviews,” where Blooey Singson (one of our favorite book bloggers from the Philippines), Daphne Lee (Malaysia), and Anu Kumar (India/Singapore) would discuss the joys and challenges faced as they write book reviews in various formats.

Wait, there’s more….

Since there are still a whole LOT more that you can expect from this year’s festival, allow me to share these posters with you:

Hope to see you all there!

*Photos during the AFCC Press Conference were taken by my husband, Roel Bacsal.