The Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) returns from 21 to 24 May 2026 in the National Library Building! One of Asia’s leading events dedicated to children’s literature, illustration, and storytelling, AFCC brings together creators, publishers, and educators from across the region and beyond.
This year, Italy will be present with two highlights.
Philip Giordano: Pack Your Bags
Author Visit — 23 & 24 May / In English
Italian author-illustrator Philip Giordano invites young readers on a journey around the world. Through his own travels — from bustling cities to quiet corners — Philip shares the people and places he has encountered, and how these real-life experiences find their way into his stories and illustrations.
Philip has illustrated for The New York Times, Monocle, and The Boston Globe, designed toys for French company Djeco, and created large-scale installations for public spaces across Asia. His picture books — built on simple, colorful shapes, iconic characters, and graphic landscapes — have earned him international recognition, including the Bologna/SM International Illustration Prize, a Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators New York, and the White Raven Award, among others.
Don’t miss the opportunity to catch him at AFCC 2026 in these sessions:
- Building and Visualising An Illustrator’s Life: An Honest Conversation for Aspiring Illustrators | Sat, 23 May | 12.30pm – 1.45pm | B1, CTPL Programme Room 1 | Admission by Festival Pass or Festival Talk Pass Be part of an honest conversation with illustrators on building sustainable careers in a region that often undervalues creative work.
- Moving Roots: An Illustrator’s Journey Between Two Worlds | Sat, 23 May | 3pm — 4pm | L16, The Pod | Admission by Festival Pass or Festival Talk Pass Learn how the environment, visual culture, and the rhythm of life has influenced Philip’s choices in colour, composition, line, and pacing.
- Illustrator’s Portfolio Review |Sun, 24 May | 9.30am – 10.30am | L5, Imagination Room | Admission by Festival Pass or Festival Talk Pass Don’t miss this rare opportunity to receive personalised, one-on-one feedback from award-winning illustrators. Gain valuable insights on strengthening your portfolio, refining your artistic techniques and positioning your work professionally.
Pinocchio: 200 Years of an Icon
Travelling Exhibition — Asian Premiere / 21 May – 28 Jun | CTPL, B1 | Free Admission
Don’t miss the Asian premiere of the exhibition organised by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair to mark the bicentennial of Carlo Collodi’s birth — the Tuscan author who gave the world Pinocchio.
Pinocchio began as a serial story in a children’s magazine, with no images at all. Over the decades that followed, illustrators across generations have reimagined him in line art, black and white, and colour, each bringing their own vision to one of the most beloved characters in world literature. This travelling exhibition brings together 50 illustrations by celebrated Italian illustrators, tracing two centuries of a story that never stops being told.
All programmes take place at the national Library Building.
