Taiwan to be featured country at 2026 IF Illustration Festival in Lyon

Paris, Sept. 12 (CNA) The IF Illustration Festival, hosted by French illustration magazine Kiblind, will feature Taiwan as its theme country on Sept. 26-27 in Lyon, France.

Kiblind has also collaborated with Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris to arrange exhibitions, forums and animation displays to showcase the work and cultural characteristics of contemporary Taiwanese illustrators.

The art festival, titled "Focus Taiwan," invited three Taiwanese artists to take part in a month-long artist-in-residence program, with their works to be displayed at the festival in Lyon.

Jean Tourette, co-founder of Kiblind, told CNA that Kiblind has a deep connection to Taiwan, as the country was featured in the international section of the magazine's first issue in 2001.

This year, the fourth edition of the festival will be the first to feature a themed country and hold an artist-in-residence program, which has invited three Taiwanese artists -- Croter, Acia Yang and Chang Tzu-chun (張梓鈞).

The artists, who recently arrived in France, will spend a week visiting different art organizations in Paris and exchanging ideas with them before creating their works from scratch during the residency, with the pieces being printed and displayed at the festival, Tourette said.

Coming from Kaohsiung, Croter, whose illustration style is realistic and rich in detail, said he had never been to France and had long been curious about and interested in European illustration styles.

Yang, who studied in Brussels and is experienced in using vivid blocks of color to simplify lines and compositions, said she looks forward to working in Lyon, a city she has never visited.

Chang said she chose not to bring the materials she is accustomed to, as she looks forward to improvising during the one-month creation period, with the theme to be revealed only upon her arrival.

Having visited art organizations across Taiwan, Tourette said new encounters and exchanges are the best part of the "Focus Taiwan" artist-in-residence program.

The past two IF Illustration Festivals have featured collaborations with six Taiwanese artists, including Saitemiss and Chou Chia Yu, in 2024 and 2025, Tourette said.

Looking back on previous collaborations with Taiwan, Tourette said they were "beautiful coincidences" that led to the fourth edition of the IF Illustration Festival.

The festival was inaugurated in 2023, with each edition inviting around 30 international artists to participate. It is also known for its "Expo Live" session, during which artists create paintings on large wooden cube-shaped structures on site.

Human beings are at the core of creation, and it is of the utmost importance to establish an art festival that emphasizes the artists' presence on site, Tourette said.

"We hope that through the art festival and such a brilliant, international collaboration with Taiwan, we can shed light on the value of artists," he said.